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By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
11-24-2009 After years of service in various capacities, one of Big Pine’s oldest structures has been removed from Main Street.
The final chapter of the historic Big Pine Library has been written, as the building was torn down earlier this month.
Prior to the demolition crew dismantling the termite-infested building, residents were given the opportunity to salvage windows, furniture, desks and other materials from the old structure.
Despite an effort from the Friends of the Big Pine Library to restore the old library and have it listed as a State Historical Site, the Inyo County Board of Supervisors voted in 2007 to have the building, which it considered a liability, demolished.
“We did everything that was possible to try to save it,” said Friends of the Big Pine Library member and employee of more than 30 years Donna Ives. “But it had to come down one way or another.”
To keep the building in functional use, the Friends of the Big Pine Library would have been required to exterminate the termite infestation, make the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and upgrade the building’s electricity.
To make all those improvements, the group would have needed a little help from the county, “but they said, ‘Nope, we’re not going to spend one nickle on that old building,’” Ives said.
Though the building was indeed old enough to make the historical site registry, the Board of Supervisors said the county would not have the funds to maintain the building or make the necessary improvements.
Also, with the Inyo County Superintendent of Schools and Big Pine School partnering to build a new library building, the board felt there was no reason to keep the old structure around.
When the board decided to demolish the building, the property was donated to the Big Pine Volunteer Fire Department, located next door, to be used for new facilities.
The Big Pine Volunteer Fire Department is planning to construct a parking lot and another structure on the property where the library was located.
When the school library was constructed in 2008, all materials, computers and books were moved from the dilapidated building into the new library and the structure on Main Street was officially vacated.
The building was originally constructed by Inyo County veterans of World War I as an American Legion Post, after the Board of Supervisors approved a special tax generating $5,000 for the effort. (The final cost ended up being $7,982.78.)
The lot was purchased from Jim Butler, a major figure in the Nevada silver boom thanks to his rich silver mines around Tonopah, a town he founded.
The building was completed in 1923, and was quite “modern.” In addition to the electric lights, which are still working today, the building had two flush toilets, a full kitchen and sink, and sat on a concrete foundation.
By 1930, the American Legion no longer wanted to use the building (for reasons that are still unclear), and the structure started its long career as the town library. It served as the Big Pine library until 2006.
The building was not vacated for any structural or space problems, but because of a deal that combined the school and county libraries in a new building.
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