Plainsboro Township is moving to the next phase in its plans to build a new library in the Plainsboro Town Center. The township is expected to go out to bid on the project on Friday, September 7, with an anticipated bid opening on Thursday, October 11, according to Township Administrator Robert Sheehan.##M:[more]##
Last month, the Township Committee approved a bond ordinance appropriating $15.55 million to pay for the overall cost of the project, and the issuance of $13.93 million in bonds.
The estimated cost of actual construction, according to Sheehan, is $12.4 million. Additional costs covered by the bond ordinance include furnishings, technology, security, and professionals.
Sheehan says that as long as the project comes in under bid, the township will be ready to move right away. “After the bid opening, we hope to be in in position to prepare reports and have a discussion with the township committee at its meeting on Wednesday, October 24. We may be in position to award a contract on that night.”
In that case, he says, “we are becoming confident that we will get a shovel in the ground in 2007, and then we’ll be moving forward from there.”
Sheehan adds that the township is anticipating a 2009 opening. “We’re looking at an 18-month construction period. There are some bold individuals who suggest that it may happen sooner than that. I am not one of those bold individuals, because I know that things can happen, and have happened in the past.”
“We would like to have it move quicker but have constructed a deliberate process,” says Sheehan. “The township committee has been involved and thorough in reviewing various levels of the plans. Now we’ll see what the market has to say with the bidding.”
Much of the funding for the downpayment on the bonds is coming from private donations as part of a fund drive conducted by the township over the last year.
“Right now we’re just shy of $1.5 million,” Sheehan reports. “We’re continuing to plug away. We have a host of applications going out to various foundations and we’re hopeful to get their (funding) support. So far, we’ve done very well. The community, and especially the corporate community, has been very supportive. We still have a little ways to get to our $2 million goal, but we’re going to stay with it.”
Donations include $200,”000 from Bristol Myers-Squibb in return for naming rights to the community health education center planned for the library, and $100,”000 donations each from Robert Wood Johnson and Princeton University.
Other funding, as identified by the bond ordinance, includes a $50,”00 grant from the state, a $70,”000 grant from from New Jersey Statewide Livable Communities, and a $500,”000 contribution from the Plainsboro Library to the township.
The library, designed by Manhattan-based BKSK Architects and Library Director Jinny Baeckler, will be a three-story, 34,”000-square-foot building located in the heart of the Village Center.
