Library Construction is On Track

(This letter was sent to Scarsdale10583 by the Scarsdale Library Building Committee)
The Library Building Committee reports that the Olmsted Road construction site is open and work is progressing. Governor Cuomo’s executive orders on construction created some confusion but have been clarified, and municipal and government projects can remain open. It is a day-to-day effort. The Village has distributed detailed guidelines for safe workspaces during the COVID-19 health crisis and confirms they are being followed. As of this writing, there have been no cases of coronavirus reported by the contractors​.

Thanks to careful management and prudent oversight by Director Beth Bermel and Village Capital Project Manager Paul Zaicek, among others, the Library has available savings and other funding sources that cover all costs ​without any new burden to the Village taxpayers. ​This is true, despite the fact that just prior to the pandemic, the project was facing a potential delay of two months and cost overages of a little more than 3%--not at all unusual on large construction projects. Extension contracts also have been successfully negotiated with all project team members with favorable terms for Scarsdale.

Keeping the project on pace allows the Village to control costs; ​we are lucky to be making progress, and the Building Committee has reason to be hopeful. For example, a delayed delivery of light fixtures coming from Canada was causing a domino effect of other slowdowns but they arrived on-site last week, and have now been installed.

While we are thrilled that the building construction is on track to be substantially completed sometime this summer, the full impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the Library reopening remains unknown. A host of issues could arise, like the furniture delivery could be delayed or NYS could extend closures of public libraries. The Library is committed to safe and successful project completion and full transparency to the community and we look forward to a time when we can safely gather and learn together again, hopefully some time in the late fall.

We continue to be grateful to Scarsdale taxpayers, the FOSL and the many generous donors who have helped make this transformation a reality for everyone. Thank you to the community for your patience and trust.

Photos here show tremendous progress, allowing us to visualize the improvements underway! Hopefully, people have driven by and caught a glimpse of what is coming. The glass-wrapped reading gallery that faces the pond has captured everyone's imagination. Who wouldn’t want to sit out there and enjoy a good book?