OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg Public Library recently held an open house celebrating access improvements at the facility that were funded with $150,000 secured by Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell D-Theresa.

Russell secured a $125,000 grant from the Community Capital Assistance Program that enabled the library to make upgrades to open up the entire facility to patrons who are unable to climb stairs, according to the a release from her office.

It’s an issue that’s plagued the facility since their elevator broke down in early 2015 and a ramp was shut down a few months later due to safety issues.

The library’s deteriorating ramp on the building’s west side was replaced by an accessibility lift. The lift is enclosed and heated so users will be sheltered from North Country winters.

The elevator has also been repaired so patrons can access the children's library in the building's basement and the auditorium on the second floor.

"They were in terrible shape at the library. Their elevator had gone down and the ramp was crumbling at the same time. It was a no brainer to get them resources as quickly as possible to ensure they could serve everybody in the community," Assemblywoman Russell said.

Ogdensburg Public Library Executive Director Penny J. Kerfien said the elevator and lift issues surfaced in the first few months of her tenure at the helm of the facility in 2014.

"When I started, the building had issues. We didn't know what we were going to do. I talked to Addie. She said she would see what she could do for us and a couple of weeks later she got back to us and said she had been able to secure funding for us," Ms. Kerfien said.

"It was great. She's always been supportive of libraries. We got lucky with her being our assembly person," she suggested.

She said the lift is critical to provide access to the library for people in wheelchairs and also benefits parents and grandparents bringing young people in strollers to the facility.

"We had this open house to celebrate the lift and elevator projects to make our building Americans with Disabilities Act compliant. It couldn't have been done without the $125,000 Assemblywoman Russell secured for the library. We didn't have any other options," Ms. Kerfien stressed.

She said the library went without the ramp and elevator for several months before the repairs and renovations were completed this summer.

"We get a lot of senior citizens here. Some can climb the stairs, but some can't. We have a couple of people from the towers that are absolutely thrilled. We have a father in a wheelchair, and this is one of the first time his young daughter can come to the library with her dad," the Ogdensburg Public Library librarian noted. The library moved to its present location, a Victorian mansion, in 1895. Fire destroyed much of the interior of the original structure during a renovation project in the early 1920s.