$26.7M Mastics-Moriches-Shirley library reopening after a two-year renovation
From left, head of adult services Kerrilynn Jorgensen, library board president Joseph Maiorana, library director Kerri Rosalia and head of digital services Stephen Burg at the renovated library. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin
A Shirley library will reopen Saturday morning following a closure for a two-year renovation – the culmination of a $26.7 million effort to construct three libraries in the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library district.
The 45,000-square foot library, at the southeast corner of William Floyd Parkway and Roberts Road, is no larger than before construction began, library officials say. But space has been reallocated to create larger reading rooms and new areas for children, teenagers and a "maker space" with 3D printers.
The reopening will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday in ceremonies that also mark the library district's 50th anniversary, library director Kerri Rosalia said.
Library board president Joe Maiorana said upgrading the main branch had been a dream of his since he joined the board in 1998.
"It's a new building. Everything was taken down to the steel [and rebuilt]," he said Tuesday as he and Rosalia led a tour of the renovated library. "It's super rewarding to finally address the library's needs for the next 50 years."
Efforts to reconstruct the library, and add new branches in Moriches and Mastic Beach, go back nearly two decades and include two failed bond propositions amid objections to the rejected projects' costs and other factors.
District voters in December 2019 approved a $22.6 million bond to fund construction of the three libraries. The bond increased taxes on the average home assessed at $1,995 by about $86 per year, district officials said at the time.
The Moriches branch opened in April 2023, and the Mastic Beach branch debuted three months earlier.
But construction of the main branch was halted two years ago when workers discovered the original building's walls and an elevator shaft could not be reused because they were structurally unsound. The building was stripped to its steel framework before construction resumed last year, library officials said.
Two previous library improvement plans had been rejected by voters, including a $34.8 million expansion plan in 2006 and a $33.5 million proposal in 2018 that would have replaced the Shirley library with a 50,000-square-foot facility at the site of the former Links golf club.
Shirley lawyer and civic leader Raymond Keenan had opposed the 2018 plan, but he was happy to hear the project was nearing completion.
“Hallelujah," he said Tuesday. "This thing took longer than the pyramids.”
Total construction costs originally were projected to be about $26.6 million, including the $22.6 million bond and $4 million in reserve funds. The final tally is expected to be even more, but Rosalia and Maiorana said they won't know the price tag until they finish paying contractors' bills in several months.
Maiorana added the district never considered asking voters to approve additional bonds for the project.
Keenan, who was part of a drive to block the 2018 referendum, said some Moriches and Mastic Beach residents had objected to the earlier plans because the main library was too far from their homes.
He and other residents were won over in 2019 when district officials lowered the cost to taxpayers and added the Moriches and Mastic Beach branches.
“The price came way down [and] we got a [Moriches] branch to the north that we were happy about," he said. "Better off all around.”
In addition to more space for books, videos and computers, the renewed library has a gas fireplace and a cafe that is still under construction, Rosalia said.
"This building has to serve the community for 50 to 100 years," she said Tuesday as workers stacked shelves, emptied boxes of new equipment and moved furniture. "I think now we can do that."
A Shirley library will reopen Saturday morning following a closure for a two-year renovation – the culmination of a $26.7 million effort to construct three libraries in the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library district.
The 45,000-square foot library, at the southeast corner of William Floyd Parkway and Roberts Road, is no larger than before construction began, library officials say. But space has been reallocated to create larger reading rooms and new areas for children, teenagers and a "maker space" with 3D printers.
The reopening will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday in ceremonies that also mark the library district's 50th anniversary, library director Kerri Rosalia said.
Library board president Joe Maiorana said upgrading the main branch had been a dream of his since he joined the board in 1998.
"It's a new building. Everything was taken down to the steel [and rebuilt]," he said Tuesday as he and Rosalia led a tour of the renovated library. "It's super rewarding to finally address the library's needs for the next 50 years."
Efforts to reconstruct the library, and add new branches in Moriches and Mastic Beach, go back nearly two decades and include two failed bond propositions amid objections to the rejected projects' costs and other factors.
District voters in December 2019 approved a $22.6 million bond to fund construction of the three libraries. The bond increased taxes on the average home assessed at $1,995 by about $86 per year, district officials said at the time.
The Moriches branch opened in April 2023, and the Mastic Beach branch debuted three months earlier.
But construction of the main branch was halted two years ago when workers discovered the original building's walls and an elevator shaft could not be reused because they were structurally unsound. The building was stripped to its steel framework before construction resumed last year, library officials said.
Two previous library improvement plans had been rejected by voters, including a $34.8 million expansion plan in 2006 and a $33.5 million proposal in 2018 that would have replaced the Shirley library with a 50,000-square-foot facility at the site of the former Links golf club.
Shirley lawyer and civic leader Raymond Keenan had opposed the 2018 plan, but he was happy to hear the project was nearing completion.
“Hallelujah," he said Tuesday. "This thing took longer than the pyramids.”
Stephen Burg, head of digital services at the Shirley library, holds an American flag made by a 3D printer in the new technology lab at the recently renovated Shirley library. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin
Total construction costs originally were projected to be about $26.6 million, including the $22.6 million bond and $4 million in reserve funds. The final tally is expected to be even more, but Rosalia and Maiorana said they won't know the price tag until they finish paying contractors' bills in several months.
Maiorana added the district never considered asking voters to approve additional bonds for the project.
Keenan, who was part of a drive to block the 2018 referendum, said some Moriches and Mastic Beach residents had objected to the earlier plans because the main library was too far from their homes.
He and other residents were won over in 2019 when district officials lowered the cost to taxpayers and added the Moriches and Mastic Beach branches.
“The price came way down [and] we got a [Moriches] branch to the north that we were happy about," he said. "Better off all around.”
In addition to more space for books, videos and computers, the renewed library has a gas fireplace and a cafe that is still under construction, Rosalia said.
"This building has to serve the community for 50 to 100 years," she said Tuesday as workers stacked shelves, emptied boxes of new equipment and moved furniture. "I think now we can do that."
Upgrades at Shirley library
New and improved features of the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library's main branch in Shirley:
- New lighting fixtures and video boards, expanded lobby, larger reading rooms, children's and teenager areas.
- Improved insulation, handicapped-accessible elevator and bathrooms, security enhancements.
- Gas fireplace, cafe, expanded community rooms.
SOURCE: Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library
Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.
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