March 20, 2004

NEW LIBRARY & OFFICE COMPLEX OPENS BEHIND CITY HALL

Mayor James Kennedy today joined Congressman Donald Payne, members of the Library Board of Trustees and other guests to open the city’s new $15 million library / office complex behind city hall. 

The 75,000 square foot building was designed by the Summit-based architectural firm, The Biber Partnership.  The 32,000 square foot library is wired for high-speed Internet access, contains an attractive fireplace, a coffee shop and café and boasts terraces that overlook the Rahway River for patrons to read and relax.  The children’s department has been nearly doubled in size – from 2,800 square feet to 5,400 square feet – resulting in expanded and improved programs for younger residents.

The new library is a revolutionary public-private partnership that involves selling the top two floors to a private firm and using the remainder of the building as public library space.  This is the first such agreement in New Jersey and only one of a handful throughout the nation.  The sale is expected to net $3.5 million to help fund the building’s construction.

The city has received approximately $7.4 million from the federal and state governments, with $3 million to come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and $1.4 million from the state Office of Emergency Management.  The United States Economic Development Administration is contributing $1 million, and the of a New Jersey State Library is providing $2 million.

“Rahway now has the finest library in Union County and perhaps the entire state of New Jersey,” said Kennedy.  “Our partnership with the state and federal governments, as well as the private sector, made this day possible.  Furthermore, this is the only public library in the state that will generate tax revenues, helping city taxpayers recover a significant amount of the cost of running a library.”

The federal and state funds were a product of Hurricane Floyd, which swept through Rahway in September, 1999 with high winds and over a foot of rain.  Because the old library at the intersection of St. Georges and Central Avenues sat on a flood plain of the Robinson’s Branch of the Rahway River, the library sustained some $1 million in flood damage and was deemed too expensive to rebuild (this being the eighth flood in the library’s 32-year history at the site).  In 2001, the old library was demolished and replaced with an expanded park.  The park contains new landscaping, tennis courts, benches and parking.

During the initial month of operation, the Library’s hours are as follows:
Monday & Tuesday:     9 am – 5 pm
Wednesday:                 9 am – 8 pm
For more information, please call the library at (732) 340-1551.

Click here to view additional photos of the March 20th Library opening Ceremonies.