Then and Now: From EMS to community library, this Fox Chapel property is always in service

From EMS to community library, the property at 403 Fox Chapel Road has long served residents.

The site adjacent to the Fox Chapel Municipal Building was home to Foxwall EMS for years before it was replaced in 2011 by the $6 million Cooper-Siegel Community Library.

Foxwall EMS landed a larger facility not too far away — along Hemlock Hollow Road.

The library, at 24,000 square feet, serves residents of the Fox Chapel Area School District with unique programs for all ages.

Because it was built to suit the needs of nearly 30,000 residents, fundraising stretched about two years. But, it received a massive boost from Fox Chapel residents Naomi Weisberg Siegel and Eric Cooper who had promised themselves decades ago to support public libraries by one day contributing the dollar amount equivalent to the books borrowed over the years.

They estimated it would be about $2 million, and that amount was donated by the Cooper-Siegel Family Foundation.

Renovations have continued over the years in order to serve a growing number of patrons. In 2022, 50 parking spaces were added through the $350,000 purchase of an adjacent property.

Several years earlier, the Fritz Mitnick Welcome Garden and Porch was constructed for outdoor enthusiasts. The setting creates a peaceful spot for reading or gathering on the left side of the building.

The library currently is undergoing a $2.5 expansion of its basement area to accommodate more programs.

Executive Director Jill McConnell said the library has become so much more than a spot to borrow reading material. It is a community hub with a collection of about 71,600 items, study rooms, an art room, tool-lending library, crochet classes, therapy pets, scavenger hunts, movies and more.