Construction On New Manchester Library Reaches Major Step

MANCHESTER, CT — Framing and structural work is done at the site of Manchester's new library and the next step of construction is ready to go.

The last big steel beam was put into place at the building's highest point Monday during a traditional "topping off" ceremony. It marked the structural completion of the project.

The beam was painted white, on one side and construction workers, town officials and other dignitaries took turns signing it.

Then it was lifted to the top of the building, where two workers had been sitting patiently to put it in place.

Construction began in early April at what was a giant hole. The frame now towers over Downtown Manchester.

The new library site is at 1041 Main St., where a former Webster Bank branch was demolished to make way for the 76,000-square foot structure. It was designed by Friar HMB Architecture and the construction manager is Connecticut and Rhode Island-based O and G Industries.

The price tag is about $50 million, and footing the bill is $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act money, $39 million in bonding funds, $5 million from the U.S. Treasury Capital Projects Fund and a grant of $3.5 million from the state Community Investment Fund.

Town officials have said constructing a new library is a project that has been "decades in the making."

Here is a virtual tour of the new library: