Politics & Government
UPDATED: Manchester Business Leaders Throw Support Behind Library Expansion, School Repairs
The town's chamber of commerce endorsed funding for school repairs and an expanded downtown library Tuesday.
Updated, 3:10 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 10
The Downtown Manchester Special Services district has also announced its support of the $12.5 million Mary Cheney Library expansion, sending out a flyer advocating for funding.
The flyer is attached to this story as a PDF.
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Original Story
The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce threw its support behind $4.9 million in school repairs and an additional $12.5 million expansion of the Mary Cheney Library Tuesday, both of which will appear on the ballot of a referendum on Election Day come November.
Find out what's happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“For Manchester to continue to be a community where people want to live and raise their families, and where businesses want to locate, Manchester must make the education of our children a top priority, just as earlier generations of town residents have done in the past," Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce President Sue O'Connor said in a statement Tuesday. "While we had hoped that a bonding plan for the town’s educational needs could have come after the SMARTR committee’s findings had been published, discussed, and approved, we respect the opinion of those who believe that this funding is urgently needed for critical repairs that cannot be responsibly delayed."
O'Connor said the $12.5 million Mary Cheney Library expansion could also be viewed as an educational issue, and noted that together the two referendum items should boast the Manchester economy, which in turn would boost tax revenue to help offset the costs to residents.
“Having great schools but then failing to give our town’s students and knowledge-seeking residents convenient access to the reference resources they need is a contradiction,” O’Connor said. “Despite the hard work and dedication of our library staff and volunteers, the town’s needs have simply grown too great to be met by the existing facility.”
Both items will appear on the ballot in Manchester on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6.
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