Suffield is blessed with one of the state's most attractive town centers, its buildings built over time in a number of architectural styles. Unfortunately, it may soon lose an important piece of this collage.

The Kent Memorial Library is an early 1970s Modernist design that fits seamlessly with the older buildings. But the library is overcrowded and somewhat outdated, and town officials are proposing to demolish it and build a new one. That decision should be revisited.

The library was designed by a major Connecticut architect, Warren Platner, who is best known for his interiors. He designed the interiors of Chicago's Water Tower Place and the elegant Windows on the World Restaurant at the World Trade Center, which lives in memory.

In Suffield, Platner created large and airy rooms with abundant natural light, welcoming and conducive to books and reading. The spare and symmetric exterior, white-painted brick on a plinth of Connecticut granite with deep roof overhangs behind a colonnade of trees, has become a part of Main Street.

On the other hand, the building is showing its age. It's overcrowded, its systems are old, it predates the Internet and the roof leaks.

Suffield officials looked into preserving and expanding the building, but determined that a new structure was "the most cost-efficient and beneficial for the town," said First Selectman Scott R. Lingenfelter.

A committee has selected an architect. The project must be approved by town boards and a town meeting, which could happen early next year.

Virtually any historic building can be saved if the will and the money are there. The Wauregan Hotel in Norwich and the Sage-Allen Building in Hartford were restored against great odds. All of the issues with the Kent Library were raised about the Wilde Building in Bloomfield, a Modernist gem, and they were overcome.

We would like to see Suffield officials take another serious look at restoring and expanding the present building. There may be state or federal assistance to be had. But the impetus for this must come from town residents.

The impending loss of the building has brought protests from a number of architects and designers around the state, but not as much of an uproar from residents. Suffieldites, it's your call. The number at town hall is 860-668-3838.