The iconic main branch of the venerable New York Public Library is heading for a major update. The library system’s board of trustees voted unanimously to approve a $317M renovation of the Bryant Park-area building, a figure that accounts for $144M already spent on improvements over the past decade.
The plan will increase public space for study, exhibition and educational programming by 20 percent partially accounted for by converting storage space. The library will also add a new interior entrance plaza and café, as well as convert a staff entrance on 40th Street to an additional public entrance to ease congestion.
The three- to four-year renovation will be devoted to balancing the building’s dual purposes as a tourist destination and a learning institution by focusing gathering spaces on the lower levels and adding quieter areas for research on the upper levels. New bathrooms, an elevator and a Center for Research and Learning for high school and college students will also be coming.
The marble exterior of the Beaux Arts-style building along Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, also known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman building, will remain unchanged, as will the historic book stacks. A previous renovation plan that would have dismantled the stacks was abandoned after public outcry and a lawsuit in 2014.
All but $9M of the project’s budget has been raised from private donations, and the library system plans to raise an additional $128M to replenish its $1.2B endowment. As for the stacks, there is no plan for their future as they are currently held across the street as it undergoes its own $200M renovation. The historic collection is currently housed in underground storage beneath neighboring Bryant Park. (Source: Bisnow)
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