It's been just over a year since the damage was first done, but work will finally begin this week to make permanent structural repairs to the roof at the Main Branch of the Peabody Institute Library.

As snow and ice piled up on top of many buildings and homes last winter -- Peabody and surrounding communities got hit with about 80 inches from numerous blizzards and storms on each other's heels -- the accumulation of snow and ice on the library roof, combined with severe wind gusts, cracked one of the old trusses, damaged several others and left another crack in the roof.

The work now will repair and reinforce some of those original trusses, which were damaged on Jan. 13, 2011. The city had contractors, who were already on-site replacing the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems in the 158-year-old building, make a temporary fix at the time and the third floor was closed off to everyone.

It had been closed to the public since September 2010 when HVAC work began on that floor.

Library staff says the structural work now should take two months, after which interior finishes will begin. During this time, the construction activity is not anticipated to disrupt regular library services, although there may be some short-term periods when visitors will have limited access to certain entrances, stairwells or the building elevator.

The library staff says it will make all efforts to minimize disruptions to public access.

City officials say the permanent repairs, which are in addition to the $2.7 million HVAC upgrades throughout the building, were delayed initially because the HVAC work on the third floor needed to be finished first.

Several months then elapsed while designs were engineered and the city's insurer agreed to pay for part of the roof repairs (three trusses). The city would have to pay for the rest of the work (four trusses).

This past fall, former Mayor Michael Bonfanti had requested the state waive certain public bidding procedures for the city's share of the roof repairs, due to the emergency nature of the project and avoid further unnecessary delays.

State officials from the Division of Capital Asset Management disagreed with the "emergency" assessment of the repairs and said they would not waive the advertising requirements, delaying the project after all.

In December, the City Council agreed to spend $72,000 from reserves to pay for the design of the city's portion.

The work beginning this week is only for the repairs covered by insurance -- once those are finished, the firm that wins the public bid for the remainder of the work can move in and finish the job.

If you have questions in regard to the construction schedule and public access for library patrons, call the front desk at the Main Branch at 978-531-0100.