Mayor Marcia Leclerc Breaks Ground on Wickham Memorial Library

East Hartford, CT – On Thursday, October 21, Mayor Marcia Leclerc was joined by the East Hartford Town Council, East Hartford Legislative Delegation, Connecticut’s State Librarian Deborah Schander, town officials and members of the community to break ground on Wickham Memorial Library located at 656 Burnside Avenue.

“I was proud to break ground on the renovation and expansion of the historic Wickham Library,” said Mayor Marcia Leclerc. This is an extremely exciting project, making the library ADA-compliant and turning it into another valuable community resource.”

The Library was built in 1940 with a construction cost of $30,000, and it was donated by local industrialist Clarence Wickham. The 3-bay, 2-story building is faced in Flemish-bond brick and is an excellent example of the Colonial Revival architectural style. The library has been closed since May of 2016.

The Wickham Library renovation and expansion is a $4,079,000 project that will improve an important public amenity in our community, serving as an extension of the East Hartford Public Library services. This project is made possible with funding from the American Rescue Plan, made available to our community thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Federal Delegation.

The design and bid processes for the renovation of the Wickham Library have been completed and work is underway to provide a new entrance and lobby area, and make the building fully ADA-compliant with access to all floors. The fully renovated interior will allow this facility to become a much needed community gathering space, which will offer a lending library, technology hub, workforce development and small business consultation services, among other programs and amenities.