Board of Education finally voted unanimously to accept the Erie
Station as the site for the new building. 100 A contract was signed by the city and the School Board with the Board agreeing
to pay the City $200,000 for the land and the Depot Street Erie
Train station. 101 Groundbreaking for the Library took place in
October 1993.102
Much community interest centered on what to name the new
library. Some people felt the new library should retain the old
name "Thrali Library" for tradition's sake. Others suggested
that such a name was confusing to outsiders or those new to the
area. People could not tell by the name whether Thrall Library
was in fact the city's public library. It was impossible to
locate it in the phone book if you didn't already know its name.
Friends of Thrall Library coordinated a "Name the New Library"
survey. The resulting name "Middletown Thrall Library" in this
case seemed to be an acceptable compromise which surprisingly
satisfied almost everyone. 103
After months of the usual construction delays, the new
Middletown Thrall Library was opened for public inspection on
Sunday, February 12, 1995. It was billed as a "Grand Opening Celebration" and it was! The Library cost $5.3 million and was
five times the size (30,000 square feet) of the old Thra11