MARBLEHEAD, Ohio - The stately, yellow-brick building that faces Lake Erie once housed newborn babies and surgical patients.

During World War II, it was a military barracks. Later, a series of limestone quarry operators used the stone-trimmed structure for office space.

Empty for more than 10 years, the 89-year-old landmark off Main Street in Marblehead could become the village's first library in several decades, if some local residents get their way.

To Lorrie Halblaub, president of the Marblehead Peninsula Library Committee, the building was meant to house books, magazines, and computers.

"It looks like a library," she said. "In fact, one of our members pulled up once thinking it was. It's been vacant for 11 years, and we'd like to see it saved. We'd like to see it put to use."

The committee has been raising money for two years to renovate the former hospital and operate it as a library. In mid-May, the nonprofit group opened a used bookstore, Ex Libris, in Marblehead to generate income for the project. Members have talked to Lafarge North America, which owns the building, about leasing the structure.

Tony Micketti, plant manager for Lafarge's Marblehead quarry, said the firm has no need for the building and is discussing turning it over to the committee.

"We've slowly but surely been working with them to do that," he said. "We're just a little slow in having a lease written up for them. If we can get that together, Lafarge would be more than happy to lease that out to them to use as a library."

Lafarge moved its offices out of the slablike structure in 1993, and it has been empty since. A Lafarge predecessor, the Kelleys Island Lime & Transport Co., built it in 1915 as a hospital for company employees and peninsula residents.

The Coast Guard moved into the building from 1941 to 1945, when the quarry firm decided to move its offices there. Two other firms, Standard Slag and Lafarge, maintained offices there for nearly 50 years.

Ms. Halblaub, a teacher at Danbury High School, said an architect and an engineer have examined the building and pronounced it structurally sound.

However, she estimated the structure would need "several hundred thousand dollars" in repairs and renovation.

Rooms on the south side have suffered water damage because of a leaky roof, Ms. Halblaub said. Chunks of the building's stone trim have crumbled, and ivy and moss cover parts of its decaying front porch.

Inside, file cabinets and boxes of papers are strewn about the floors, and peeling paint and plaster can be seen through the building's doors and windows.

"It's definitely salveagable," Ms. Halblaub said. "It's going to need some work, though."

The high school teacher said a library would fill a couple of glaring needs for the village and Danbury Township.

First, residents who want to visit a library to check out books or use a public Internet terminal now have to drive to downtown Port Clinton, 20 minutes away.

Second, the peninsula has a shortage of public meeting rooms. She said the village council, for instance, meets in the town fire hall. Ms. Halblaub envisions turning the old hospital's basement into a conference area.

She noted that the township is experiencing an influx of residents who want cultural and educational amenities.

"There's new houses going up all the time," she said. "People come from cities with libraries, and they want to know where ours is."

Contact Steve Murphy at:

smurphy@theblade.com

or 419-724-6078.

First Published June 1, 2004, 11:44 a.m.