By Dustin Brown
It was only a model, a tiny replica of the new library that in months should start rising from the pavement of the fenced-in playground at PS 111 in Long Island City.
But even in miniature the new building caught stares and turned heads Friday afternoon as Borough President Helen Marshall and Queens Library Director Gary Strong unveiled plans for the new facility on the sidewalk of 21st Street, where ground is expected to be broken this fall.
“We really need a library to keep people steady, to keep them focused on their education and stay out of trouble,” said Abraham Wilkins, 45, a Queensbridge Houses resident who admired the model as he walked by with his wife.
The two-story, 18,000-square-foot library will cover the front half of PS 111's current playground, which will wrap around the new building to include an additional recreational area in front of the school.
It will replace two tiny libraries squeezed into apartment-sized spaces at the Queensbridge Houses and Ravenswood Houses, public housing projects directly south and north of the new library site.
“What we have here is something that will take us into the modern world,” said state Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood). “This will be a state-of-the-art branch for the children of Queensbridge, the children of Ravenswood, the children of the Astoria Houses.”
The borough president's office provided more than half the funding for the $7.2 million facility, which was also financed by Nolan, the City Council and the mayor.
The city Department of Design and Construction, which is responsible for building the library, will solicit bids for contractors later this month, putting the project on a timeline to start construction by the fall, Strong said.
“Until we start breaking ground people won't believe it,” Strong said. “These projects take so long that people wonder if they will ever happen.”
Friday's unveiling of the design came more than a decade after planning first started for the library and nearly two years after public officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking in August 2001. It was held ahead of schedule to honor then-City Councilman Walter McCaffrey (D-Woodside) and former Borough President Claire Shulman, who had funded the project and were leaving office.
But the project was stalled even further as the economy faltered and the designs changed.
“We were very close to ready, but prices went up and we were stalled in the process,” Strong said.
Although the city is facing dire fiscal problems that have eaten away more than half of the Queens Library's capital budget, forcing the system to eliminate 66 projects in the past two years, funding for the Long Island City project is secure, Strong said.
“At this point it has not been affected by the cuts,” Strong said. “We were very careful to keep our major big projects to enhance service where we don't have service.”
The library will offer 25 computer workstations, an adult learning center, increased services for children and a meeting room that can accommodate 125 people.
“Many of these families cannot afford computers,” Marshall said. “They can come to the library and have access.”
But it will also provide space to house the building blocks of any library – books.
“The building will also expand the book collection significantly,” Strong said. “This will allow us to provide thousands upon thousands of additional volumes.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
