Houston Memorial Library restoration ‘coming along’

Published 10:00 am Thursday, August 2, 2018

They may have missed the previously scheduled opening date of November 2017, but Anita Raby, chairwoman of the Houston Memorial Library and Museum’s Board of Directors, thinks they might still be able to make it before Athens’ bicentennial celebration this November.

“We’ve got the parlor close to being reopened, and we’re waiting on a man to come and redo the floors. We’re not going to completely redo them, but we’ve got to buff them and that sort of thing,” Raby said. “We still have to finish the kitchenette and the mantle (for the parlor fireplace).”

The library and museum were once the home of Gov. George S. Houston, who lived inside the home from 1845 until his death on Dec. 31, 1879. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and until it was closed for renovation in June 2016, it served as a public library.

Raby said the process of turning it into a library and a museum while preserving its historical accuracy and bringing it up to modern requirements for public buildings has been “slowly but surely coming along.”

“That’s the trouble with restoring an old house,” she said. “One thing leads to another.”

For example, a room that originally served as a bathroom is not considered compliant with the American Disabilities Act, so it will be made into a kitchenette and another room has been transformed into an ADA-compliant bathroom. However, a large sink outside the new bathroom is original to the home and will remain.

Elsewhere, a large filing cabinet filled with Dewey decimal cards matches stickers and Post-Its among the bookshelves that line multiple rooms in the home. While the bookshelves will remain, the books that rest on them must be re-organized and re-catalogued so they can be inventoried using a computer.

That is, the books that weren’t removed from the library.

“If a book had not been checked out in 10 years, we figured our patrons had made their decision in whether or not we needed to keep that book,” Raby said.

She said many of the books, including encyclopedias, were donated to a facility in Decatur for inmates in the work release program.

There are still thousands of books left, however. When combined with everything else involved in the renovation project, those on the inside are left with a large workload that may not have a lot of visible progress to those on the outside.

“We are only a nine-person board, and several of us work full-time,” Raby said. “We have been overwhelmed with just doing the work inside the library. … It may not look like a lot has been done from the outside, but it’s a lot of details inside.”

It’s not just a time-consuming project, either. Last October, Raby said most but not all of the money raised for the renovation had been spent, and the board had been applying for grants to help cover the remaining costs. Since then, they have been turned down for some of the grants, but they have started new applications for others.

“We have put some money in ourselves,” she said. “We have not spent all of our operational funds from the city over the last couple of years.”

Part of the cost was bringing in an employee to act as liaison between the construction workers and board. Raby said the employee was a “long-time volunteer, so she knows what she’s doing.”

While the library and museum aren’t open to the public or large groups yet, Raby said those interested in volunteering or seeing some of the work firsthand are welcome to visit Monday through Friday when the employee is there.

“Sometimes she has to leave for an appointment. Sometimes she has a day off,” Raby said, “but if the door’s open, they’re free to stop by and see what we’re doing. We’re not checking out books right now, but they can visit if they want.”

Opportunities to volunteer are also open. Raby said they usually have several volunteers visit on Tuesday mornings. Those interested in helping the renovation along can call ahead to 256-233-8770 for more information.

Monetary donations can be mailed to HMLM Foundation, P.O. Box 1650, Athens, AL 35612.

“It’s lovingly, painstakingly being restored, but it’s going to hopefully last us for generations,” Raby said.