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GLOVERSVILLE - Renovations at the Gloversville Public Library are well under way, and restoration work in the lobby should be finished by the end of next week, officials there said.

Alan Fudger, of Alan Fudger Speciality Finishers in Johnstown, has been working nights and weekends in the library lobby, stripping plaster and refinishing the area. He said he began in March and is expecting to finish by the end of next week.

Fudger said he worked on the same area in the library 24 years ago with his father and another worker.

"It's going smoothly," he said of the current project.

Library Director Barbara Madonna said Fudger's work has been going "fantastically" despite the large chunks of plaster that have been coming off the walls and ceiling, littering the facility.

"He's extremely neat," she said of Fudger. "He's constantly vacuuming."

The plaster has been problematic because of humidity and water problems inside the building, Madonna said. Library officials have set up fans to dry the new plaster and paint quickly, she said.

The library and the city Common Council recently accepted a bid from Bombard Excavating of Middle Grove, Saratoga County, for $94,750 to remediate water problems in the building's basement.

Within a month, the contractor should begin work there, Madonna said.

The library also will pay local engineer Steven Smith $8,000 for a study of the basement, Madonna said. Remaining 2008 capital project money in the city budget will be used to pay for the study and some of the work.

State Sen. Hugh T. Farley, R-Niskayuna, secured about $20,000 for the library, and other fundraising has generated more than $20,000.

Madonna said the library also will dip into its own funds to pay for the project, and will continue fundraising.

Kayleigh Karutis covers Gloversville news. She can be reached by e-mail at gloversville@leaderherald.com