WESTBROOK–Nearly a year after the Warren Memorial Library’s controversial closure, the building is going up for sale – and a likely buyer could be the city as a new home for the Walker Memorial Library.

Rene Daniel, spokesman for the Warren Memorial Foundation’s board of trustees, said the building has become too costly to operate and is depleting the foundation’s endowment.

“We did not want to sell the building,” Daniel said. “We’re trying to save as much of the fund as we can.”

Meanwhile, the Walker library building needs $1.5 million in immediate renovations and more in the future – money that city officials say they just don’t have. Mayor Colleen Hilton said she is exploring the option of the city purchasing the Warren building, which Daniel estimated to be worth between $1.5 million and $1.8 million.

“It is very early in the process, but my goal is to ensure that library services continue. I am less concerned with which building the service takes place at,” Hilton said.

The Warren building on Main Street housed a private library for more than 130 years. Established in 1876 for S.D. Warren mill employees and their families, the library was turned over to the trustees of the Warren Memorial Foundation in 1929 and opened to the public.

The trustees announced in March 2009 that the library would be closing in May of that year due to a steep decline in the value of its investments, which the library’s budget was dependent upon. The announcement was met with an outcry from the library’s loyal patrons, who pleaded with the board to let them try to save it.

But the board said it had already explored all possibilities, its decision was final and it would be holding meetings with community leaders to generate ideas about what to do with the building. Daniel said two of those meetings occurred and produced some good ideas and some not-so-good ones – like renting the building as housing.

Since the library closed, one business, Saunders Bros. International, rented space in the building to offset operational costs. However, Daniel said, the business moved out of the building at the end of February.

He said the building costs about $60,000-$80,000 per year to operate, which isn’t sustainable for the board without having a tenant.

“We want to be in the business of giving, not renting,” he said.

In the end, he said, the board decided the best option for the endowment would be to sell the building and that it would likely be on the market in April. Daniel said the profit from the sale would be redirected to fund scholarships and art programs, such as workshops and forums.

Daniel said he wouldn’t be interested in giving the city a discount on the building, but would like to see it bought by the city and potentially used as a library again.

“The building was built to serve the city of Westbrook,” Daniel said. “I think it would be great.”

But the Walker library building, which is less than a mile away on Main Street from the Warren building, is a significant structure for the city, too. The Queen Anne style building was constructed in 1894, funded through a gift to the city from local businessman Joseph Walker Jr.

“The Walker building is a gorgeous building with historical meaning for the town. It would be a shame to walk away from it,” said Mike Miles, the chairman of the Walker library’s board of regents.

However, Miles said, at least $1.5 million in repairs are needed immediately in order to keep the collection safe.

“The biggest enemy to books is moisture, and moisture is getting into that building and it’s getting worse,” he said.

In addition, he said, there is probably another $500,000-$1 million in other repairs that will be necessary in the near future.

“If the council is not willing to do repairs … there’s a problem. There’s a real serious problem,” he said.

Council President Brendan Rielly said, considering the cost of renovations needed at Walker, which is higher than the likely price of purchasing Warren, the council has a responsibility to the taxpayers to look at moving the library into the other building.

“I don’t know if it makes sense,” he said. “It definitely needs to be looked at.”

Before and during the budget process, which Rielly said should start soon, he thinks the council should also consider moving the library into the former Wescott Junior High School. In that case, the money saved on the purchase of Warren, he said, could be used for renovations at Wescott.

Miles and Walker Library Director Karen Valley have walked through the Warren building to determine whether the Walker collection could fit in the space. Miles said the Warren building is about 2,500 square feet smaller than the 17,000-square-foot Walker building.

Valley said she didn’t know if it would be logistically feasible to move Walker into the Warren building.

“It’s too early to tell what’s going to happen,” she said. “To be fiscally responsible to the community, we need to look.”

However, in order to preserve the Walker collection, the staff might just have to make it work.

“I recognize the historic nature of the Walker and all that rich history entails,” said Hilton. “At this point in time, I don’t believe our community can afford to restore Walker to the level it would require and still maintain the historic preservation distinction.”

According to Miles, in addition to the board of regents for the Walker library, there are two trustees who oversee the Walker trust. If the library moved, the building would be left in their hands.

“I would be sorry to see anything happen to the Walker building,” said Michael Elwell, a former Warren patron, who has been going to Walker at least once a week since the closure.

Though Elwell said the Walker staff has been welcoming, he said he would “love to see (Warren) open back up as a library.”

Kelly Watters, one of the organizers of the group that set out to save Warren, agreed.

“It would almost feel like getting our library back,” she said.

Watters said she and others still feel the sting of Warren’s closure, and she wonders sometimes whether she could have done more. It would be hard, she said, to see the building sold off to a private entity that didn’t serve the citizens of the city.

“I would hate to see another piece of Westbrook be dissolved,” she said.

Anastasia Weigle, a former director of Warren Library, said it still angers her to think about the library closing, and the latest developments don’t sit well either.

“Sell the building,” she said. “It’s just the nail in our coffin, and if Walker gets it, it’s a slap in our face.”

The former Warren Memorial Library, which closed last May, is going up for sale and could house the Walker library.