Representatives from the Great Neck Library presented plans for a $10.4 million renovation of the library’s Main Branch at the Village of Saddle Rock board meeting Wednesday night, ahead of November’s planned referendum vote.
After an introduction from library President Marietta DiCamillo, building advisory committee member Amy Levinson described the renovation plan to gathered residents as a means of both improving the Main Branch’s interior space and making needed infrastructure improvements.
“The goal of the renovation was to open up the building and take care of the structure issues, of which there are many,” Levinson said, noting that about half the projected costs would go towards infrastructure.
The renovation would increase community space, open the design of the library, condense book storage and update the building’s infrastructure, Russell Davidson, president of the project’s architectural firm KG&D, said at a July public meeting on the plan. Davidson described the design as “user friendly.”
The Main Branch, which is located at 159 Bayview Avenue, is one of four library locations serving all of Great Neck and north New Hyde Park.
The renovation plan presented in Saddle Rock was the seventh option prepared by KG&D after months of consultation with the library’s Building Advisory Committee – and calls for a broadened entryway and improved views of Udalls Pond.
“We spent a huge amount of time looking at all the departments and what their needs were,” Levinson said. “It was clear from the beginning that the children’s department needed a lot more space, that we needed a young adult space, that we needed a lot more public space.”
The renovation plan comes on the heels of a proposed $20.8 million expansion of the Main Branch, which was defeated by a landslide in an October 2011 referendum. The 2011 expansion plan would have added 8,600 square feet to the Main Branch’s footprint and added accessibility for disabled patrons, but would have forced the building’s closure for up to two years. The new plan is expected to close the library for one year or less.
Library staff member Christine Johnson said at Wednesday’s meeting that the renovation would be flexible so that space allocations could change in response to future library needs.
Also at the meeting, Saddle Rock Mayor Dan Levy announced that the village would embark on the next phase of its road construction project.
“Whitman [Road,] which was scheduled to be done during phase one but couldn’t because of the major construction that was happening there, is desperately in need of repair and repave,” Levy said. “Stevenson [Drive] is to follow because it is in worse shape than some of the roads that I’ve seen in the Sinai Desert.”
The north side of Grist Mill lane would also be repaired, totaling about a half mile of road construction, Levy said.
According the Levy, the village is proceeding with repaving in multiple phases to allow the village to pay for the project with on-hand funds rather than borrowing. Phase one of the construction was paid for by state fund at a substantial savings to the village, Levy said.
Levy also announced that due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday, September’s board meeting will be pushed back to Tuesday, Sept. 10.
