Insights from Roth Marz Partnership

This article was originally publised on erienewsnow.com on June 15, 2018.

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After six weeks of construction, the new peaked skylight is unveiled Friday at the Erie County Library.

It is a lot brighter inside the Blasco Library.

The scaffolding came down, and after six weeks of construction, the new skylight is unveiled Friday.

It replaced the original dome skylight, which was leaking badly for years.

The new skylight is solar shielded and self cleaning.

This comes as the library is doing some major renovation projects, phase one is the recently completed Idea Lab.

The second phase will feature a new and expanded Teen Space, and is set to begin this summer, “Phase two we're moving into in a few weeks, which will be a new Teen Space, this (the skylight) happened in between, and it happened really because we wouldn't want to damage any of the construction we've just completed,” said Erie County Library Director, Erin Wincek.

Library Clerk, Jennifer Meyer, says they’re all very excited about this 5 year master plan, and its completion later this year, “We definitely think it's going to be worthwhile, I think the Idea Lab and skylight, those two changes we've seen so far, have really made a huge difference, not just as far as the looks of the library, but as far as making it a welcoming and comfortable space for visitors,” said Clerk.

The Aquatic Dancers, an original artwork done by local artist John Vahanian, was cleaned, and returned to its former location beneath the skylight, where it has been displayed, since 1996.