Plainsboro Township hopes to minimize the cost of construction of a new library in the Village Center development by conducting a campaign to solicit donations from the private community.##M:[more]## Township Committee on December 29 approved a $90,”000 contract with Graham-Pelton Consulting of Summit to work over the next six months to organize efforts to raise funds to go towards the construction of the library.
Last year Graham-Pelton was paid $25,”000 to study how much the township could expect to raise from private sources for the library? The study, which included interviews with library patrons, citizens active in the community, corporate citizens, and library supporters, found that the township could expect to raise between $1.5 million to $2 million.
According to Township Administrator Robert Sheehan, the cost of the new library — to be built in the Town Center development off Schalks Crossing Road — was estimated to be $9 million in 2003. Since then the cost has risen some 10 percent, and may rise another 5 to 10 percent by the time the project is bid.
“We’re hopeful that we will be able to get meaningful dollars,” says Sheehan. “We were very fortunate to get significant (monetary) support for the environmental education center (in the Plainsboro Preserve). Given the important role the library plays in this community, we’ve got some real possibilities.”
Design work is also under way. In August the Committee approved a $765,”000 contract with George Schieferdecker of BKSK Architects of New York City for full design services. In June the committee adopted a $4 million bond ordinance that included $1.2 million for the library design. Plans call for a new 34,”000-square-foot structure at the eastern end of the green, bounded by commercial buildings to the north and west, and residential housing to the south.
