When completed next month, the Pea Ridge Community Library will be a visible testimonial to the strength of community involvement and volunteerism.

The building, given to the city by Mercy Medical Center about two years ago, has been gutted and rebuilt with volunteer labor.

For months, volunteers, city employees and inmates from the Benton County Jail have been working on the new building, saving the city tens of thousands of dollars.

“Several years ago, that building was appraised at $375,000,” Mayor Jackie Crabtree said, adding that thanks to the donation of the from Mercy Medical, donations of labor and materials from various construction owners and volunteer labor, the city will have a large, modern new library for about $50,000.

“We could not have done thiswithout the volunteers or the inmates,” the mayor said.

One of those volunteers is Gene Labelle, an inmate at the Benton County Jail. A man with 30 years of experience in the construction business, Labelle is serving time for contempt. He admits that he is a perfectionist when it come to his work.

“He’s very particular about what he does,” Crabtree said of Labelle.

“We’ve gutted the inside, rebuilt interior walls, built new rooms,” Crabtree said. “Several local contractors have donated time and materials.”

City building official Tony Townsend and city maintenance employee Corey Flowers have both put in numerous hours.

Townsend has managed the role of contractor, Crabtree said.

Volunteers have helped with demolition, construction, sheet rock, painting, installing a suspended ceiling and tile floors.

Mayor Crabtree said that thecurrent value in Arkansas of volunteer labor is $16.48, setting the more than 600 hours of labor provided by inmate labor at just under $10,000. He said the program has been extremely beneficial to the city, which could not have afforded to do the work otherwise.

Crabtree said he has asked the newly-elected sheriff, Kelly Cradduck, to extend the program. He said otherwise, inmates sit injail, at taxpayers’ expense, and contribute nothing to society.

“This way, they give back,” he said, adding that an inmate must earn the privilege of working in the program so nobody is put in jeopardy.

The city spent about $27,000 on a new roof for the building and less than $30,000 on other work.

In addition to being larger than the old library, the new library will have added features - there will be several computers, wi-fi, a children’s corner, a coffee bar.

“I think it’s a real positive move for the library.

The library staff and boardhave done a really good job over the years of providing a quality product on a tight budget. This will just increase their capacity.

“They’ll have a lot more opportunities. They’ll work with the schools, too, to reinforce lessons learned there.”

The library’s new home - a 5,000-square-foot building is on North Curtis Avenue - is just south of Patton Street. City officials are still discussing what to do with the old downtownbuilding, which formerly housed the Bank of Pea Ridge. It is owned by the city.

“I appreciate everyone who has worked to hard to make it possible,” Crabtree said. “It looks really good.”

News, Pages 1 on 01/16/2013