Ceremony held for library

Twenty-five years ago this week, Jay County began the process of building a new library.

The Oct. 3, 1995, edition of The Commercial Review features a story about the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Jay County Public Library at the corner of southeast corner of Ship and Arch streets in Portland.

The site of the new facility had once been home to a grain mill.

“It still doesn’t seem possible, I have to confess,” said Jay County Library Board president Bill Hinkle. “There will be no more shadows on this project, I hope.”

The project had gone through challenges, including initial change orders and a fundraising effort.

The groundbreaking was the next step for a process that started with strategic planning in 1993 followed by public meetings. The next year, a remonstrance petition put the construction bond issue for the library on hold.

The project was able to move forward after a public review committee, headed by Dean Jetter, endorsed the library board’s decision to build the new facility but called for a firm ceiling of $1.85 million for the bond issue. That required supporters to seek additional funding, including grants and private fundraising that was at $415,000 and growing toward $450,000. The third phase of funding was planned to involve selling personalized bricks at a cost of $125.

Hinkle credited library director Rosalie Clamme as “the glue that has held this project together from the very start. I don’t think I ever heard her say, ‘This can’t be done.’”