Ann and Tom Johnson
Hopewell Borough
We are in favor of purchasing the former Sun Bank building at 64 E Broad St., for a new and updated library.
Forty-seven years ago we moved to Hopewell with a young family. We purchased our home 37 years ago in the middle of town on West Broad Street. At the time the amount we paid seemed tremendous and the taxes at $1,500 seemed like an awful lot of money. Yes, the taxes have gone up a lot since then and so has the value of the house.
The kids are grown and gone and we could now sell this home for a tidy sum and retire anywhere but we have chosen to retire right here in Hopewell.
We love this town and the people in it. This is a community with a mix of people, many different opinions, many different resources and many different priorities. It is stimulating; it is exciting and it is a wonderful place to live, raise families and also to grow old. We can walk all over this town and everything we need is at our fingertips including a library that we love and use on a regular basis.
Because we use the library all the time, we know full well the charm of the current building, but we also see its limitations and drawbacks. During the last 15 to 20 years we have been aware of many discussions and search efforts for a new library space. In our opinion it is more than time for a new library space and the former Sun Bank building is a wonderful opportunity.
The municipal portion of our tax bill is a very small part of the total. We have always felt we get great value for the municipal portion of the tax here in Hopewell Borough. and for us the library is a priority. We are willing to pay a little extra to have a library with updated services, some privacy, some decent meeting spaces and one that is more accessible to us, in the future, when we might not be so mobile.
We urge the council to move forward to the next step in making a new library become a reality for Hopewell Borough.
