For the Great Neck Library, this is the beginning of the end.
The Town of North Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved on Wednesday, March 23 five variances to reconstruct Great Neck’s main library branch in an expansion that would add about 8,600 square feet, and bring the aging structure into the digital age.
If the project receives site-plan approval from North Hempstead’s Town Board, the next step is a referendum on the $22.5 million construction project, which will be financed by a bond.
With various library boards trying for 15 years to bring the project to a vote, the time is now right, said Janet Eshaghoff, president of the Great Neck Library Board of Trustees.
“The minority opposition has been successful in delaying this, and I’m very happy that the residents are going to be able to express their opinion,” said Library Trustee Martin Sokol. “I feel very confident that they will recognize the wonderful asset that this community has in its library.”
Site-plan approval could take until the end of June, said Sokol, who is hoping for a referendum in September or October.
“We need to use the library a little differently,” said assistant Library Director Laura Weir. “We need more study rooms. We may need a much bigger AV space.”
Built in the late 1960s, the building’s heating and cooling systems are beginning to “break apart,” Weir said. When the furnace broke down a couple of winters ago, it was hard to find replacement parts.
The renovation would expand the children’s room and make it a more kid friendly space. An adjoining multi-purpose room would be used for programming, in lieu of current basement level facilities.
Computers would be located in a dedicated space, away from the sometimes noisy children’s room, while the audio visual department (i.e. DVDs) would be in larger, more central location.
Eshaghoff said that the AV department is one of the most heavily used sections of the library, but it is difficult to find anything because the DVDs are so tightly packed.
Although referendum details are not yet available, with a vote planned for fall, the project’s supporters are hopeful there is enough time to inform the community about the need for construction.
According to library trustees, it might be a job best left for professionals.
At a meeting March 23, trustees interviewed two public relations firms who, if hired, would be charged with giving Great Neck residents nothing but the facts. A request for proposals send out by Library Director Janet Marino yielded only one response, a firm the board previously interviewed.
“If we do hire a PR firm, which is something that we are considering, we would charge them with informing the public,” Eshaghoff said. “That’s our goal. To make sure that everyone is apprized of the issues. It’s always been one of the frustrations we have, that the public is somewhat apathetic about voting. Hopefully for this particular election we will get them out to the polls.”
Firms previously interviewed by trustees would charge in the “high teens.”
The referendum will have an advocate in the Committee for a 21st Century Great Neck Library, chaired by former library president Mischa Schwartz and his wife Charlotte.
“What we hope to do is educate the community about what the renovation is all about, why we need it, and hopefully get as many people as possible to support it,” said Charlotte Schwartz.
Despite the obstacles and financial issues, Eshaghoff thinks the vote will be affirmative.
“If it’s not now it’s never,” she said.
