Committee considers two more sites for library By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD The Mason Square Library Site Committee saw two more potential locations for a new library on March 12. One site would need substantial renovations and has a parking challenge, while another would involve a financial arrangement with an existing institution. The group toured both the former fire station in the center of Mason Square and the Dunbar Community Center. Committee members illuminated the long-abandoned, century-old fire station with flashlights as they looked over the first floor. City Planning Department officials did not allow the group of about 20 people and media to go to the second or third floors because of the lack of electricity and slippery floor conditions due to pigeon droppings. Scott Hanson of the Planning Department said the site probably has issues with asbestos, lead paint and mold that would require attention, and an elevator would have to be installed for all patrons to reach the upper floors. The city owns this site, so the budget for the new library would be focused on renovation. Mayor Charles Ryan suggested at an earlier meeting that a multi-tiered parking garage could be the answer to that site's lack of parking. Committee member Elizabeth Stevens noted that "every location has drawbacks" and said the fire station is where Mason Square Library benefactor Anne Curran wanted the library to be. Some members of the committee also expressed concern over the busy streets that surround the fire station and whether that would pose a threat to walkers, while others thought the site was safe. At the Dunbar Community center, Executive Director Cherylyn Hatchett showed the group an area of about 3,000 square feet behind the former gym that she said would be the location for the library's collections. Hatchett's idea is to integrate the services and programs offered by the library throughout the Center. For instance, library patrons would be able to use the Center's computer room along with the people who are members of the Center. Hatchett said she saw the addition of a branch library as " a fit with the existing programs and facilities." Hatchett said that financial details such as whether or not the city would buy or lease the site have yet to be determined by the Center's Board. The head of the city's libraries, Emily Bader, reminded the group the library's services would have to remain free and questioned if the Dunbar's location was too close to the Central Library on state Street. The space for the collections at the Center would require considerable renovation and there was no discussion of possible costs. The Committee will next meet on March 26 to tour American International College, which has proposed merging a city branch library with its college library, and to look at a site near the Massachusetts Career Development Institute on Wilbraham Avenue.