New Kent supervisors considering proposal to use empty bank building to house Heritage Public Library

A new option is now on the table for New Kent County supervisors to consider as a permanent home for Heritage Public Library — the empty building in the Maidstone development at New Kent Courthouse that once housed a Colonial Virginia Bank branch.

Developer John Adamson, who purchased Maidstone in 2013, delivered a preliminary proposal for converting the 5,000 square-foot building into a library during supervisors’ Sept. 30 work session. Board members went behind closed doors to discuss the offer, but made no decision on the matter.

Adamson proposes to lease the building over a 15-year timeframe at a cost of $50,000 per year, similar to the $48,000 in annual rent now paid for the library’s current New Kent branch location on Route 155. Also in the proposal are purchase options– $600,000 in the fifth year and $300,000 in year 10. If the 15-year lease period runs out, however, he proposes to transfer the deed to the county.

Adamson is also asking the county to pay $250,000 in upfront costs to convert the building, thus bringing the total expenditure spread over 15 years to $1 million. Some on the board are balking at the overall expense and time involved.

“That building would make a good library, but I’m not comfortable doing a 15-year lease,” said District 1 Supervisor Thomas Evelyn, indicating he would prefer a shorter timeframe.

“[A library] would be a great anchor for that area, but it’s a little too expensive,” chimed in District 5 representative Ray Davis.

Supervisors asked library officials on hand — director Barbara Winters and library board vice-chairman Bill O’Leary — if the library could raise the $1 million. That task is possible, Winters replied, but would require a considerable amount of time.

District 4 Supervisor Ron Stiers said the board’s main goal is get out from under the current $48,000 yearly rent payment. He added, however, that he “can’t see spending $1 million in 15 years for [the bank] building.”

Winters said afterward that rental expense is expected increase next Feb. 1, the anniversary of the date in 2008 when the library moved into its current home. The rent has been rising at a rate of close to 2 percent each year, she said.

O’Leary told supervisors the library board has no money to allocate for a library building, either the empty bank or the option to utilize part of the county’s Historic School facility. The latter option remains on the table.

“We’d like to hear what the board of supervisors is proposing and take that back to the library board,” he said.

“We need as much detail as possible,” he said. “Both [options] are very viable, but to put it bluntly, we’re at the mercy of the county.”

“The library board could probably raise the money easier on [the bank building] than on the Historic School,” Evelyn said, reiterating his stance that a 15-year lease is not a viable option for the county.

Supervisors did not discuss the matter with library officials after board members emerged from closed session, Winters said.

Adamson, meanwhile, lobbied intensely for his proposal during the open meeting, saying the empty bank building would be “a beautiful home for the library.” Supervisors’ approval of his proposal would “make a good statement to the community” on how board members view the importance of a library in the county, he added.

Afterward, he said a precedent exists for New Kent supervisors to follow. Mathews County, he said, recently converted an abandoned bank building into a public library.

After banks foreclosed on Maidstone, Adamson bought the development in late 2013, paying $350,000 for the residential component and $1,125,000 for the commercial part. Somewhat ironically, Colonial Virginia Bank had foreclosed on the residential section.

The bank building, however, was not part of the commercial package in the 2013 sale. Adamson said he is in the process of purchasing the building, which fronts directly on New Kent Highway (Route 249) and is assessed at $896,000. Current real estate taxes paid annually to the county total $7,500.