Preservationists were disappointed to lose the old building, but library officials said there was no way to meet the needs of the community with the old building.
The Queens Library system released this rendering of what the rebuilt Elmhurst Library will look like in 2014. Photo courtesy of the Queens Library.
At the end of July, the last bit of concrete for the foundation of El- mhurst’s new library was poured by Borough President Helen Marshall and Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Elmhurst).
It was a major milestone toward opening a massively expanded, state-of-the-art building that’s needed a space upgrade for decades, according to officials from the Queens Library.
The new 30,000 square foot Elmhurst Library is about 15,000 square feet bigger than the previous building at 51st Avenue just north of Queens Boulevard. It’s expected to open in 2014.
After the last of the concrete was poured into place Dromm and Mar- shall celebrated the progress.
“This is a very exciting development for Elmhurst. It is important for an area so diverse and dense to have a library that can serve the needs of local residents,” said Dromm.
The bulk of the $27.8 million needed for the project came from Marshall’s office.
“I take great pride in knowing that more than $23.5 million from my office will help to build this new facility, which will double the size of the former Elmhurst Library,” said Borough President Helen Marshall.
But the project has met some resistance when it was revealed the old building would be scraped.
The structure, originally built with funding from Andrew Carn- egie, the philanthropically inclined steel baron, who died in 1919, was caught between the needs of a bur- geoning community and historical significance.
The library was one of seven libraries still standing in New York that were funded by Carnegie, but it was the biggest.
In January, as demolition started on the library building, Michael Perlman, president of the Rego- Forest Preservation Council said, “This case is one of the preservation travesties for our borough.”
Regardless, officials from Queens Library said that if they wanted to truly serve the communities needs, they had no choice to scrape the building and start from scratch.
“The 1906 library in Elmhurst was built in what was then a sparse- ly settled suburb. The community began to grow rapidly, and 20 years after the library opened, it was already too small for the commu- nity and was expanded for the first time,” said Joanne King, a spokes- woman for The Queens Library. “If you know how densely populated the neighborhood is today, you can imagine how badly more library space is needed.”
She added that since 1906, the core of the building had already been expanded twice—meaning it was not the historic structure preservationists wanted to hold onto— causing the city’s Landmarks and Preservation Commission to deny it landmark status.
The library will include throw- backs to the original design such as original bricks placed in the new facade, a nostalgic fireplace in the children’s room and a memory wall.
Preservationists previously told The Forum that it’s not nearly what they wanted, but library officals say the bottom line is residents in Elmhurst needed a state-of-the-art library, and the old building just couldn’t cut it.
“It was simply not feasible to provide adequate service in any permutation of the former build- ing,” King said in an email. “Queens Library’s priority is to support
the community with education, technology, community space and lifelong learning opportunities. The new building will accomplish all that plus be an asset to everyone in Elmhurst.”
The new library will include a swath of state-of-the-art features including a new modern design, four floors with elevator access to all levels, separate library areas for adults, children and teens, 32-computers for customer use; an adult learning center and an interior atrium, reading rooms and community gardens.
While the new building is under construction, library service is being provided from a temporary building parked behind the church on 85-08 51st Avenue at Broadway. The Adult Learning Center is hold- ing classes in the St. James Gymnasium at 84-07 Broadway.
By Jeremiah Dobruck
