Hartselle gets $20k grant for new library, bidding begins soon

For the Enquirer

The new Hartselle library to be built off Sparkman Street recently received an infusion of $20,000 from the state Legislature. Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, made the announcement last week during a Hartselle City Council meeting. “It is a legislative community service grant, and it is money we put in the state budget every year,” Orr told The Daily. “Each House and Senate member gets an appropriation from this line item in the budget.” Orr is putting his allocation toward the library. The planned $2.5 million library will be built at 413 Sparkman St. N.W. and have 7,500 square feet – almost double what it has at its current location at 152 Sparkman St. N.W. “The $20,000 will be held in a separate library fund for future use,” Hartselle City Clerk Rita Lee said. “It will most likely be used for furniture or fixtures in the new building.” Built in the 1960s as a bank, the current library needs repairs and updates that are not feasible considering the library has outgrown the space, Michelle Blaylock, library manager, has said. A new library is one of three major projects Hartselle has in the works right now. With the new library there will be an adjoining event center, Mayor Randy Garrison said. A fire station will be built in a separate location. The city is still in the design phase with the architect for these projects, Lee said. “We met (last) Wednesday morning to discuss all the technologies needed for the new library, event center and fire station,” she said. “We hope to be bidding the projects in the next few months.” The new library and the adjoining 13,500-square-foot event center will be built on 3.5 acres of donated land where Hartselle Medical Center once stood, Garrison said. It was used as a medical center for 60 years until it closed in 2012 and was demolished in 2021. Huntsville Hospital Health System donated the land, valued at $110,000, to the city.