Desmond-Fish Proposes Pavilion

Project includes solar panels, book-sale storage

The Desmond-Fish Public Library in Garrison has applied to the Philipstown Planning Board to install an outdoor pavilion with an open area for events and programs, an enclosure to store used books for its annual sale and rooftop solar panels. 

Margaret McManus of project engineer Badey & Watson introduced the proposal on May 16 and the board voted to declare it a “major” project and scheduled a site visit for June 9. (Planning Board Chair Neal Zuckerman, a Desmond-Fish trustee, recused himself.)

The pavilion, according to the submission, meets two needs identified by patrons in surveys: a place to hold outdoor meetings and a community resource during natural disasters. 

The timber-frame pavilion would measure nearly 2,000 square feet, with 1,350 square feet of covered space under a gray metal roof. It would sit west of the library parking lot, and a brick walkway with bollard lighting would connect it to the main building. The design includes an uncovered patio space and dark-sky-compliant lighting. 

“It grew out of a need before the pandemic, but especially during the pandemic, for outdoor covered meeting space,” Dede Farabaugh, the library director, said on May 17. 

The south face of the roof would hold 20 solar panels, which would feed energy to a backup battery in the library. According to the project documents, the power would “support the community during an emergency by serving as a comfort station, providing clean restrooms and a warm space for people to gather.” 

A 24-foot-by-24-foot section with a service window will house books for Desmond-Fish’s annual sale. Last year, the sale included more than 35,000 titles and raised $18,000, according to the library. 

“Right now, they all get stored downstairs in the program room, which makes the room unusable for other things,” said Michael Rauch, a Desmond-Fish trustee who heads the board committee overseeing the project. 

The library last came to the Planning Board in 2021 with a proposal for a reading garden and walking path, which were approved, and an outdoor solar array mounted atop poles in a winding “ribbon” pattern. But the solar panels drew complaints from neighbors who said they would mar views from Route 9D.

Situated on the northeast corner of the intersection of routes 9D and 403, the library’s 11.5-acre property is part of the town’s Scenic Protection Overlay District, which applies to sections of roads “visible to the public” and seeks to preserve the town’s “scenic beauty and rural character.”

The library later withdrew its plans for the solar array, citing a delay in grant funding and the need to focus on the search for a new director.

Neal Tomann, a member of the Planning Board, warned that Desmond-Fish could face a similar backlash to its new proposal. However, the library said the structure, which will be 19 feet high, should not be visible from Route 9D.

Desmond-Fish’s submission included supportive emails from neighbors, who were the focus of “extensive outreach,” said McManus. Those residents included the “immediate neighbors who were most vocal about the project” said Tim Rasic, a former board member and the project’s design architect.

“We were told that this was a very attractive site from their standpoint because it really wouldn’t be visible to any of the immediate neighbors,” he said.