By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The downtown St. Joseph library has a new occupant.
Northwest Health Services will be filling in the office space that has been left vacant since the St. Joseph School District moved its office in 2022.
Director Mary Beth Revels says a main aspect of the new partnership is having someone to help preserve the historic building.
"This is a historic building that needs tender, loving, care and we needed help in order to take care of the building in the way that it should be taken care of," Revels tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
In fact, Revels says Northwest Health Services has already contracted with Rosin Preservation in Kansas City to ensure any work on the building is done to its historic specifications.
Revels says the library is excited to have someone else in the building that is passionate about preserving history.
"The St. Joseph Public Library has been part of St. Joseph since 1890, and we've been in this building since 1902, we love St. Joseph history," Revels explains. "And I love having historic buildings that are part of this community and are just going to continue to be a part of this community."
In fact, Revels says Northwest Health Services has already contracted with Rosin Preservation in Kansas City to ensure any work on the building is done to its historic specifications
The partnership between the library and Northwest Health Services will bring its offices and downtown health center to the building.
Revels says while the two will work separately, there is synergy between the two entities.
"It will be wonderful to be able to refer some of our patrons to Northwest Health for any assistance that they might need," Revels says. "And we do a lot of programming, it will be nice to be able to provide more health-related programming than we have in the past because we'll have some resources right upstairs and right downstairs to turn to."