By Nicole Flatow
A vacant parking lot on the corner of Linden Boulevard and 219th Avenue will house the new Cambria Heights library come 2005.
Borough officials gathered in front of the lot Tuesday to celebrate what they hope will soon be the official start of construction. Plans for construction were unveiled at the event. A model of the new library and architectural plans were on display.
The new branch of the Queens Borough Public Library System will be more than three times larger than the current branch, located about three miles away.
The extra 18,000 square feet of space will be used to accommodate expanded adult and children's areas, 15 computers with public Internet access, services for people with disabilities, an expanded meeting room and elevator access to a space available on the lower level for future expansion.
The library is scheduled to open in 2005, but many officials who attended the event are holding their breath until construction begins.
“I just want to say that seeing is believing,” said George Stamatiades, president of the library board of trustees. “I'm not gonna believe it until the spade is in the ground.”
As of Tuesday, he had reason to believe the library project would continue as planned despite the harsh economic realities of living in the city today.
“We got the trailer up, we got the sign up. We have not just the funding for the construction, we have the funding to build everything inside the building.”
State Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village) said she was counting on City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) to make sure the library is completed as planned.
“I'm depending on our councilman to ensure – and I think he's gonna get it done – that it happens,” Clark said.
Queens Library Interim Director Thomas Galante thanked Comrie for his past advocacy of the Queens library.
“Without strong leadership from elected officials, we would not be able to see projects like this come to fruition.”
He added that the library would provide a community facility that Stamatiades believes Cambria Heights desperately needs to hold meetings and events.
Stamatiades said he expected the Cambria Heights branch to be the most used library in the system and the library with the highest circulation in southeast Queens if not the whole borough.
He said he hoped the Queens library system could soon return to seven-day service. No libraries in the system are currently open seven days a week because of cuts implemented to help pare down the city's budget deficit.
City Council candidate Helen Cooper-Gregory, who is running against Comrie in District 27, attended the event, and assured voters that she would be just as supportive of the new library and other education initiatives.
The Queens Borough Public Library has the highest circulation of any library system in the country with 17 million items in circulation for fiscal year 2003.
Construction of the new Cambria library is funded by the City Council and the borough president. The architects for the building are Schardt & Fullan, de Silva Architects.
Reach reporter Nicole Flatow by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
