Most of the brick work has been finished, and services including plumbing, electrical, and heating have essentially been completed on Plainsboro’s new library, but some of the exterior work has been delayed. The delays are not significant, however, and the library is scheduled to open sometime in late October or November, says Township Administrator Robert Sheehan.##M:[more]##
Projections over the winter had the library building itself completed by June, and the move completed by August. “Some of the exterior work has been delayed because of the weather, but we don’t think it’s going to have a significant impact on the final completion of the structure,” he said.
Currently, workers are installing windows, and are beginning to get to the interior work. “We have granted contracts for the security system,” says Sheehan. “We are out to bid for the furniture. The shelving is in the process of being purchased. Light fixtures have been ordered.”
Library Director Jinny Baeckler says that as soon as the brickwork is complete, the moldings for the windows will go in, and the windows can be installed. Once the windows are in, the building will be completely sealed, she said.
“As long as the windows are not there, the rain comes in, and you cannot put furniture or walls in, or any of the fine touches,” she said.
This week, Baeckler says, library officials made arrangements for the security system and sat down with a firm to work on the signage for the library.
While different activities have been delayed at different times because of the weather, “we expect it will be done in August — that is, the exterior of the structure, along with the moving,” said Sheehan.
By October or November, it will open to the public, he added. “The time that we were shooting for was April, so we’re into the summer now, into August,” he said. “We thought we’d have it open in the summer, but we’ll have the structure complete in the summer.”
Sheehan says it is likely a three-month process to get the moving and interior completed — with the carpentry, lighting, and furniture — once the major construction is finished.
The Plainsboro Township Committee, meanwhile, approved $182,”000 in change orders for the library during its meeting on June 10, the major one of which was the screening of the mechanical units on the roof. “That’s been provided for now,” Sheehan says. “It was an oversight that needed to be taken care of. It’s a pretty standard item, but the good news is that even with the change orders, we’re still $165,”000 below the original construction budget, and the contingency fund — which is a normal part of an overall project cost — has not been touched.”
Upon completion, the $12.4 million library will hold 125,”000 volumes and provide informal reading areas, display space for art, quiet study rooms, 40 computer stations, a children’s section with an expanded science/computer center, a local history room, and community meeting rooms. In addition, it will feature a health education center and independent study rooms.
During the Township Committee’s June 10 meeting, the committee approved bids for the new library’s mill work and shelving to Library Interiors Inc., of Brick, but rejected bids for the library furniture, all of which “were flawed in one way or another.”
New bids were prepared, and “the furniture bids are back and the carpet bid has been accepted,” Baeckler updated. “We can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have a ways to go, but it’s beginning to look like the end is closer and closer.”
Sheehan said the furniture bids will be on the agenda for the Township Committee’s meeting on Wednesday, July 8.
