July 19th, 2018 by WCBC Radio
It has taken a few years, but restoration work to the eight columns at the Washington Street Library can now begin. The Allegany County Commissioners, last week, voted unanimously to award Ohio-based construction company American Star Painting a contract to perform the work. The nearly $191,500 contract comes more than a year after negotiations between county officials and the Maryland Historical Trust began over guidelines for the project. It became a point of frustration for County Commissioner Jake Shade as the Trust must approve any alterations to the structure and sets the guidelines for the project. Those guidelines called for the columns be stripped down to the bare wood and removing toxic layers of lead paint, something that will require a more labor-intensive procedure than just repainting them and lead to a higher price tag. Last year the commissioners set $200,000 as the maximum amount of local dollars that would be used- and at that point the District 1 legislative delegation delivered the message to the trust. Commissioner Shade said that the action won’t really impact the county budget as much of the funds had been allocated and set aside in 2017…
