The Lewes Historical Society is making a final push in its bid to take over the town's old public library building.
With the library moving to a new location next door, the Lewes city council is weighing who should occupy the old space. Historical society executive director Mike DiPaolo thinks his group is the clear choice.
Being based beside the library and the Junction & Breakwater trailhead, he says, would create a "cultural campus" for the town.
"So it'll be just a wonderful gateway to Lewes and a wonderful gathering spot for our community," he says, "with exhibits, the library ... many of our programs in one unique location."
The society's 120,000-item collection is spread out over several properties in town right now. DiPaolo says moving into the library would let them display and store it all in one place.
"I like to say that the society functions as the memory for the community," he says. "So all the collections that we have -- whether they're the library or the archives or the objects, the things that people continue to give us -- we need a safe place to store those."
Plus, DiPaolo says the society is an important part of Lewes -- they bring in almost 100,000 visitors a year, and have helped shore up the town's tax base with preservation efforts spanning half a century.
Lewes Mayor Ted Becker says the city has met with all five applicants to use the old library and are aiming for councilors to take a vote at their Jan. 11 meeting.
Their other options are Wilmington University and the American College of Delaware, a sister campus of an Irish school, along with Lullaby House, a local early learning center, and the Sussex County chapter of the Delaware Parkinson's Support Group.
