Fox Chapel Council has donated $1 million toward a $6 million fund-raising campaign to build a new library next to the borough building.

The pledge was announced today at a press conference held at the site of the proposed library on Fox Chapel Road. The borough previously agreed to donate land for the building.

The new gift from Fox Chapel will permit the start of construction, officials said.

A new regional library will improve the quality of life in all communities in the Fox Chapel Area School District, borough Mayor Harry McLaughlin Jr. said. It also will carry out the project's mission statement, "To cultivate a community of life-long learners," he said.

The library is one of two elements in a regional undertaking that includes building a new community center. The second structure will be located on Powers Run Road in O'Hara, about a mile and a half from the library site.

Fund raising for both buildings is being overseen by the non-profit Community Center and Library Association.

Both facilities primarily will serve residents in Aspinwall, Blawnox, Fox Chapel, Indiana, O'Hara and Sharpsburg.

About $5 million of the $6 million needed for the library has been pledged, according to Stephanie Flom, executive director of the association. About $8 million of the $13 million overall goal for both projects has been raised.

The new facility will be named the Cooper-Siegel Community Library, in honor of the Cooper-Siegel Family Foundation, which donated $2 million toward the project. It will replace the Lauri Ann West Memorial Library, which shares a converted school on Powers Run Road with an existing community center.

Plans call for a library ground breaking in spring 2010 and a grand opening about one year later.

Once materials from the existing library are transferred to the Fox Chapel location, that building can be demolished and work can begin on the new community center, according to Suzanne Alexander. She is chairing the community center construction effort.

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