Checking up on Hunters Point Library Construction Progress

The latest newsletter from the Long Island City Parents Group shed some light on Hunters Point Library, the public library planned for the empty parcel near Gantry State Park at 48th Avenue. The city’s made slow progress on the library, with holdups due to funding and struggles to find a developer. Groundbreaking was scheduled for last fall with plans to open in 2015. Ultimately, the city postponed groundbreaking by approximately a year because most of the construction bids came in 20 percent over budget. Here are more details from the newsletter:

According to real estate sources the curved windows of the proposed design (see picture) will cost “absolutely insane amounts of money.” The plans are currently revised using “value engineering” to cut out expensive features without reducing the square footage of the building. This process should be completed soon and the project will be put up for bids again as early as February 2014.

The modern library design is the work of famed architect Steven Holl.