Such is the case with the Ripley Public Library when, on the verge of undergoing renovations, the ceiling began to sag and threaten to collapse.

“We were just sitting over there, and someone said the ceiling’s coming down,” said Rhonda Thompson, library director.

At first, it was assumed that some of the wires that held the suspended ceiling had come loose, Thompson said. Robert McIntosh came and tightened the wires, she said.

“I came in the next day and it was drooping further,” she said.

Ripley Library Director Rhonda Thompson points to some of the 500 boxes of books stacked throughout the library.

The library then contacted Dave Walter, the architect in charge of renovations. In the meantime, Thompson’s husband, John, made T-braces to keep the ceiling from falling further.

Walter assessed the situation and said that something was pushing the suspended ceiling down. He employed Hanson Construction of Jamestown to tear down the suspended ceiling.

“They thought it would take a couple of hours,” Thompson said.

Instead, the workers discovered a second suspended ceiling that had probably been constructed in the 1950s, Thompson said. This ceiling was made of heavy wood, all 2-by-8s and 2-by-4s.

“That’s what was coming down.” she said.

Most of the shelves in the Ripley Library remain empty.

“We had one week to box up all of the books,” Thompson said. “We ended up having about 500 boxes of books stacked here and there. It was a job for Hercules.”

The library had to be closed then to take down the second suspended ceiling, Thompson said.

“Hanson estimated that about five tons of weight was taken down,” Thompson said. “It was hanging there for about 70 years.”

Thompson said it was three weeks before they could reopen the library. Even now, the library is operating on a limited basis. The computers are operational and all the programs have continued. However, most of the books are still in boxes.

The removal of the second suspended ceiling, however, revealed a vaulted ceiling with intricate wooden beadwork, as well as high arched windows, Thompson said.

Because of the new areas that were revealed, the renovations plans are being redesigned to incorporate the elegant nature of the original ceiling, she said.

Unfortunately, not all of the ceiling can be preserved, Thompson said. Because the architect wanted to be sure of what was going on, a worker went into the crawl space above the ceiling and took pictures. The architect did not like what he saw, Thompson said. So an engineer from Syracuse was called in.

The building is structurally sound, Thompson said, and it was declared safe. However, it was discovered that one of two huge trusses has rotted on one end and needs to be shored up. “It sounds worse than it is. It is completely repairable,” she said.

The repairs will require that the vaulted ceiling be torn down. Although much of the wooden beadwork will be lost, the library will try to preserve the center section, she said.

Because of all this, Thompson said, the original renovations have to be scaled back. Phase 1 of the renovations was anticipated to cost $343,000 and Thompson had obtained a grant for $217,500.

The library is taking bids for tearing out and replacing the ceiling, Thompson said. Several fundraisers are underway to help defray the costs, including three presentations of a dinner murder mystery by the Ripley Library Players, she added.