The latest six-figure commitment to the library’s Making an Impact capital campaign was a $150,000 gift from The Jack W. and Sally D. Eichelberger Foundation of The Dayton Foundation, officials said.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
The campaign is about $50,000 short of its goal, which “means that we’re going to be able to execute this project within our budget and have the revenue to complete it the way it needs to be completed,” Hale said.
The Eichelbergers were longtime Oakwood residents. Jack Eichelberger was a prominent Dayton attorney and real estate entrepreneur, according to the library. Sally Eichelberger was a member of the Dayton Women’s Club.
Library leaders have been “truly overwhelmed by and grateful for the community’s support;” Wright Library Foundation Board President Elaine Gounaris said in a statement announcing the Eichelberger foundation’s contribution.
Those funds will be combined with money from a 1.5-mill levy passed by 67% of voters last year, officials said.
The levy is expected to generate $474,307 annually and will help continue 2018 preservation work financed by $500,000 in donations, Hale has said.
The work three years ago renovated the “historic part” of the building, she said.
The 81-year-old library named after Orville and Wilbur Wright, as well as their sister Katharine, opened in 1939 and was placed on the national registry in 2013.
It will remain open during construction, but the lower level is closed as part of Phase I, which is expected to be completed in July, Hale said.
The renovation’s second phase will include closing parts of the upper level, she added.
“We have a very small new construction addition for a new vestibule and conference room,” Hale said.
“The project was largely to stay within our existing footprint. But we have this small addition so we can reopen the east entrance and make a code compliant entryway,” she added.
The renovation is expected to be completed near the end of 2021, Hale said.
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