Astoria Library renovation receives national grant

The foundation raising money for the Astoria Library has received $500,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities toward the building’s renovation.

The grant requires the foundation to raise at least $1.5 million in local matches over the next five years. But the award is a shot in the arm for the foundation, which since 2014 has raised about $100,000 after expenses, along with another $80,000 in pledges, toward a renovation estimated to cost nearly $7 million.

The renovation would modernize the building on 10th Street with larger windows and spaces for meetings, reading, teens and families. It would open public access to the basement and include an expanded Flag Room for meetings, along with a training kitchen, gallery, media lab, collaboration and archival areas.

Arline LaMear, the foundation’s president and a former mayor, thanked consultant Ruth Metz for writing the grant and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici for writing a letter of support.