Princeton Public Library Still Eyes April 1 Open

Candace Braun

The Princeton Public Library anticipates opening its doors to the public on April 1, Eric Greenfeldt, assistant public library director said on Tuesday.

"We expect substantial completion of the library by March 16, and will then use the last two weeks of March to move our staff and [book] collection into the facility," he said. Mr. Greenfeldt said that along with the opening of the library, the staff anticipates that the new downtown garage will be completed around the same time.

"We fully expect the garage to be complete in early March," he said. "In case of delay, we would be very cautious about opening without the parking garage."

The assistant director said that while the garage contractors have told him that they are quite confident they can hold to their schedule, if the opening was delayed, the library would have difficulties moving forward without the available parking.

Carl Peters, Borough engineer, was unavailable for comment.

The library, which is part of the downtown redevelopment project, will be a three-floor building, with construction costs adding up to $18.7 million. Along with the new library, a Park-and-Shop Garage is being built on Spring Street, with an anticipated 500 parking spaces. Parking inside the garage will not be available for library employees, however, employees will be able to lease 33 spots at the Merwick Rehab Hospital and Nursing Care Center, located off Route 206.

Library patrons, however, will receive up to two hours of free garage parking, which can be validated at the front desk of the library.

At the Princeton Public Library Trustee meeting on Monday, November 17, the library's art committee proposed six artists to create functional art for the library, which were accepted. The potential artists are: Katherine Hackl, Maggi Johnson, Ik-Joong Kang, Tom Nussbaum, Faith Ringgold, Armando Sosa, and Buzz Spector. The artist contracts will be voted on at the December 16 meeting of the board of trustees.