OCEAN COUNTY – The Ocean County Board of Commissioners awarded a contract to Newport Construction Management Corp, Pennsauken to build the new 19,700 square foot library at 179 South Main Street in Manahawkin.
“I am pleased to announce that we are close to getting construction underway on this new state of the art library facility,” Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners Joseph H. Vicari said. For years he has served as liaison to the Ocean County Library.
“This new county library branch in Stafford Township will provide our residents with a larger facility that supports the area’s population growth. Working together, we can provide the very best for our residents and visitors. Our county library system is the largest in the state with 19 branches and two reading centers throughout the county,” Vicari added.
Six bids were received for the work. Newport Construction Management was the lowest qualified of those received. The project’s architect is Yezzi Associates of Toms River.
The contract cost is $9,488,700. Ocean County has received a grant from the New Jersey State Library Construction Bond in the amount of $4,824,000 toward the project. Vicari said he appreciated the effort to secure the grant from the state Library Construction Bond Act.
“This is a big savings for the county. Our county library staff in concert with the administration worked tirelessly to make certain our funding application would gain the state support needed to be approved,” Vicari said.
The new building will be in a new location, bringing it closer to existing county government services.
The new branch will be a standalone building which will be 65 percent larger than the current building on North Main Street. It will provide educational resources and community spaces, state of the art technologies, public computers and shelving for 40 to 50 percent more books and materials. The building will also include larger areas for children’s programs, an intergenerational space for senior citizens to socialize and enjoy library services, a new teen area, study rooms, maker space for STEAM educational activities, and a sensory space to provide a welcoming environment for people with autism, Alzheimer’s or other sensory processing needs.
Library Commission Chairman Timothy McDonald said, “we all look forward to the day when the new building is completed and our residents can access this new branch. This project has been a priority on our facilities plan for a number of years.”
The new library building will be built on land owned by Ocean County on Route 9 at the Ocean County Southern Service Center location.
As part of the planning of the new facility, the County has already extended a water main to the site and provided drainage. Parking at the site will be reconfigured to meet the needs of all the services sharing the complex.
“We deeply appreciate the work of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners, the Stafford Township Mayor and Council, the Library Commission, the state Library Construction Bond, the library staff and the county staff as we all work together to bring the best services and programs to the residents,” Ocean County Library Director Susan Quinn said.
“This new building holds an exciting future for all of us at the Ocean County Library,” she added. Its location at the nexus of state roads serving as coastal evacuation routes where it will serve as the community anchor and be built with a full-building generator to provide resiliency in times of natural disasters and emergencies.
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