AMHERST — Work on the $46.1 million expansion and renovation of the Jones Library is expected to begin in mid-June after low bidder Fontaine Brothers, Inc., of Springfield signed a contract with the town to be the project’s general contractor.

Town officials on Monday announced the deal with Fontaine Brothers, which last fall submitted the $35.9 million bid.

The signed contract comes two weeks after the Town Council, at an emergency meeting, rejected an attempt to rescind the borrowing authorization, first approved in April 2021. That borrowing authorization caps town spending at $15.8 million, along with $1 million from the Community Preservation Act account.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman told councilors at Monday’s meeting that he was able to sign the agreement on April 18, and after the state attorney general’s office denied a bid protest brought forward by an Amherst resident. The attorney general’s office also opted against holding a hearing on the bid protest, which could have delayed the signing of a contract.

“It’s been a long road (with) a lot of barriers,” Bockelman said, adding that the Town Council has long made the library building project one of his annual goals.

Bockelman said paperwork associated with the contract was submitted to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners on Friday.

Once Fontaine Brothers’ low bid was confirmed, the company submitted an application for a demolition permit, which was issued by the town’s Building Department. That initial work will involve removing the three-story addition built in the 1990s, including the atrium, which has been plagued with leaks, and the Woodbury Room that was renovated several years ago.

The application for the full building permit will follow. The project includes the rehabilitation of the original building constructed in 1928, upgrades to the entire building to meet current library standards, improving and expanding the children’s and special collections facilities, creating dedicated space for the English as a Second Language program, teens and cultural artifacts, such as the famed Civil War tablets and getting the building to be net-zero ready. The purchase of off-site renewable energy will be used to achieve the net-zero classification.

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners is providing $15.6 million for the project, with $2.77 million already in the town’s hands, and two additional payments totaling $5.5 million to come in before June 30.

Other steps in getting the project underway include identifying a temporary location on University Drive for library services during the 18 months or so of construction, updating the invitation for bids to get a moving company’s services so books and other materials can be brought to that interim site, and re-engaging Finegold Alexander Architectes of Boston and owner’s project manager, Colliers International.

For the project, $3 million, or 8.5% of construction costs, is available for project contingencies. In addition to the town and state grant, $13.7 million will come from the Jones Library Capital Campaign, which so far has remitted $1.6 million to the town. The campaign includes a $1 million gift from Amherst College, a $1 million grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a $1.1 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development Economic Development Initiative program.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.