REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - For the past few months, the Rehoboth Beach Library has been working on a project to expand to Route 24 and lease half of the current Rehoboth Avenue building in efforts to downsize. The library's vision involved renting out half of the existing space at its current location. The community had mixed feelings about the library's goal to split its location. However, the deed for the property specifies that the entire lot must always be utilized for library services, a stipulation that poses a significant challenge to their plans.
If the library wished to alter this use, the city had the authority to either deny the change or impose additional conditions. Kay Wheatley, President of the Board of Directors for the library, expressed frustration with the city’s increasing demands.
"The city just kept adding other requirements," Wheatley stated.
In response to these challenges, the library has decided to withdraw its plans to change the deed restrictions and lease out part of the space, which Wheatley says will help the project move forward.
"I am very excited to have a plan soon and continuously moving forward instead of having a lot of stops along the way," Wheatley said.
Currently, the library has re-engaged its architect to revisit the plans for the downtown building. Meanwhile, the library is in the process of acquiring land for the second location on Warrington Road, although a settlement date has not yet been established.