NYC Public Library To Begin $317M Main Branch Renovation: Report

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The New York Public Library is set to begin a multi-year, $317 million renovation of its main library branch — the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building — in July, according to reports.

Work will begin on a new educational center on the library building's second floor on July 16, Curbed first reported. The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building is located within Bryant Park on Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd streets.

The new second-floor facility will be called the Lenox and Astor Room and will repurposed previously underutilized space for reading, seminar and study rooms, library officials announced in November when they revealed a "master plan" for the Schwarzman Building. Many of the spaces that will create the Lenox and Astor Room were previously closed to the public, library officials said at the time.

The New York Public Library renovation project is expected to take until 2021 to complete and will be conducted in two phases using private funds.

Landmarked and historic interiors such as the Rose Reading Room and the maps division will be preserved.

"For over a century, the Schwarzman Building has been a beacon of open access to information and a tireless preservationist of the world's knowledge," NYPLD President Tony Marx said in a statement when the master plan was revealed.

"We have a responsibility to preserve its architectural wonder and its role as an important civic space, while also preparing it for the future, and another century of best serving the public. We believe this plan does just that."

Other highlights of the renovation plan include:

• Transforming former staff or storage spaces into public spaces for research, exhibitions and educational programs.
• Transforming underutilized, historic spaces for research and programs, including the new Lenox and Astor Room.
• Constructing an entrance on 40th Street with a plaza and new elevator bank.
• Building new bathrooms and improving and modernizing library infrastructure.
• Building a new center for research and learning for high school and university students.
• Establishing a new permanent rotating exhibition of NYPL treasures in the library's Gottesman Hall.

Rendering courtesy New York Public Library