Architect Paul Ahearn spoke Saturday at an Easter event commemorating the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin.
“We don’t foresee any more delays — knock on wood — so we’re working hard to meet the end of May deadline,” he said.
The only concern Ahearn has is the imported blue stone for the entrance that could delay the project further. He said the stone will leave Ireland on April 12 and will take a month to be shipped to Houston.
“Then there’s customs, and we have no idea how long that will take before it gets trucked in to Phoenix,” Ahearn said.
The project was originally set for completion in January, but the death of general contractor Bernie Valdez on July 25 led to months of delay as the library committee searched for a new contractor.
“Valdez’s death had a very big impact, my heart goes out to his family,” said Ahearn.
After the delay, the new contractor, Double AA Builders, has made rapid progress.
The library was “substantially complete on St. Patrick’s Day,” Ahearn said, in time for the annual festival. “It’s not done, but at least it looked like a library.”
Saturday’s event, including a slide-show history lesson and live music, was held in the center’s Great Hall, also designed by Ahearn.
The hall and an adjoining replica cottage were part of the original construction of the center in 1998. Between them is a brick courtyard with an etched map of Ireland where personalized bricks can be purchased.
The new library is expected to cost $11.5 million by completion and will house over 6,000 volumes of literature and other media. It will also house the only Irish genealogical research center in the Southwest.
Saturday’s presentation, orated by Jim Daugherty, the center’s board president, began with a history of Ireland with artist depictions of historical figures, maps and texts, and live folk music by Jane Hilton, Shay Veno, Michael Littwin and the choral group Celtica.
The focus of the presentation, however, was on the events surrounding an uprising of Irish commoners against British rule in 1916. After a weeklong insurrection of Irish rebels attempting to establish an Irish self-rule, 16 rebel leaders were court-martialed and executed prompting a national backlash that has dominated Irish politics ever since.
Veno, who has played guitar and sang at the event since 2000, said the volunteers who share their time do so out of heartfelt love for the Irish community of Arizona.
“Our only pay is a loaf of traditional soda bread,” he joked.
He said the 2013 event would be in the finished library.
“It looks great. I can’t wait,” he said.
Contact the reporter at wsgrey@asu.edu
