New Plainsboro Library? It’s not official but it’s going to happen.##M:[more]## “There has been no official announcement pending action by the Township Committee,” says Peter Cantu, mayor of Plainsboro.
But on June 22, Township Committee voted to approve a $4 million bond ordinance aimed at financing projects in the coming year. This includes $1.2 million for the design of a brand new public library Plainsboro officials expect will be the centerpiece of its new slowly evolving Village Center. The proposed library is to located in the Village Center. The library is to be located at the eastern end of the village green, bounded by commercial buildings to the north and west, and residential housing to the south.
“The bond makes available money for the soft costs of the project,” says Bob Sheehan, Plainsboro Township administrator. “We won’t be letting the architectural contract until next month at the earliest.” In addition to the money set aside for the library design, the ordinance also includes $1.5 million for road improvements and $530,”000 for the Plainsboro Road bike path.
(Department of Transportation grants of $800,”000 will also help defray some of the costs for improvements on Scotts Corner Road as well as to the bike path.)
While spending $1.2 million on a project that is not officially a go may seem incongruous, Plainsboro officials say that it all a part of the process. “We are being very careful in how the project evolves and are making every effort to contain costs,” says Sheehan.
Sheehan also says that the township is currently having discussions with the architectural firm that did the feasibility study last year, BKSK Architects of New York. “The Township Committee will kick the ball of the project with the letting of the architectural design contract,” he says. “We are close getting to that point but we’re not there yet.”
Despite the lack of a start date, Plainsboro officials have been considering the prospect of a new 34,”000 square feet library (with an estimated cost of $8.5 million) since the plan to build a YMCA proved impractical.
Plainsboro Library, headed by Director Jinny Baeckler, has become one of the most vibrant, versatile, and trafficked facilities in the state. (See story, page 24, on the library’s many summer events.) Initially, plans to expand the library at its current location (basically doubling its size of 17,”000 square feet) were set aside when costs and logistics to expand the building became unreasonable. Plainsboro officials began looking for alternatives.
Tom Troy, a Plainsboro resident and senior vice president of the Sharbell Development Corporation (the developers of the Village Center), suggested putting the library in the Village Center. As an added means of cost effectiveness, Sharbell offered to donate the land for the library to the township.
Last summer George Schieferdecker of BKSK Architects submitted a feasibility study of building a new library to Township Committee. While some may question why it would be less expensive to build a whole new library rather than expand the current building, Plainsboro officials point to hidden cost savings. In order to keep the library open during an expansion, the township would need to rent a temporary building. Books and equipment would also need to be stored in other locations. These represent significant expenses that would not be accrued if a new building were built because the old library could be used right until the day the new library opens.
The expansion at its current location would also require the library building to be extended into the parking lot, taking up parking spaces that would need to be created somewhere else. In addition, the donation of land for the new library by Sharbell also significantly reduces the costs. According to Schieferdecker, the $250 per square foot construction costs of the new library would add up to a total of nearly $1.5 million in savings.
The proposed library calls for a three story structure with a ground floor that would include a lobby, computers, a section for periodicals, a community room that could be accessed by groups even if the library were closed, space for stacks, and a rear garden. The second floor would include study rooms, a history room, a reference office, an art gallery, more computer space and stacks, as well as a cafe. The third floor would be the children’s area, with stacks of books, a program area, and offices. There would be a roof terrace above. The structure would also contain a basement.
