HENRIETTA, N.Y. (WROC) — The old Henrietta public library on Calkins Road will soon be totally demolished. Crews were working on the demo Friday, and expect to be done within a week.

The old building, built in 1978 has been out of heavy use for years. The town says that the building housed some community groups for some events. In 2017, the town proposed plans for a new library down on Calkins Rd.

In July 2019, the town celebrated its opening with a book brigade. They passed a ceremonial book from one to person to next, starting at the old library and ending at the new one.

Town Supervisor Stephen Schultz says that the demolition of the old building will allow them to build a new courthouse in the same location. The current town court is in rented space in a nearby business park.

“It is wholly inadequate, and has been a problem for a long time,” Schultz said. He cited the lack of isolation in the space meant a high percentage of COVID cases, and the layout presented security and logistic issues.

The court is scheduled to open in the spring or early summer of 2024.

Schultz says the build of the new courthouse is slated to be completely funded outside of property tax. The total projected budget is $6.5 million, and of that, Henrietta will be using around $4.4 million in ARPA funding, then approximately $1 million each from the sale of an old Spring cell tower, and in unused sales tax revenue.

He says that the biggest impediment to using the old library for the courthouse was its antiquated HVAC systems. Schultz says that the structure would not have been able to support new systems on the roof.

The iconic tower of the old library actually housed its HVAC and utilities. But despite that, Schultz says that they will be adding a similar tower to the new courthouse, but it will be rotated 180 degrees, and mainly be used to provide natural light.