Library’s move to a new home on Cannon Place unlikely until 2019

The Van Cortlandt branch library will not be moving to its new building on Cannon Place until 2019, according to estimates presented at a Community Board 8 meeting. 

The library was expected to begin renovations at its new location at 3882 Cannon Place at the start of this year, with the move expected to be complete within several months. But the process is now expected to take until 2019, the chairman of the community board’s libraries and cultural affairs committee, Marvin Goodman, told his panel’s meeting on Jan. 12. 

Local politicians have allocated $2 million last summer for the library’s new home. The current building 3874 Sedgwick Ave. is too small, outmoded and in need of major repairs, according to politicians and librarians. 

Many have welcomed the planned move, including some neighborhood residents in Van Cortlandt Village, who have sparred with a developer over plans for the Cannon Place building, now designated as the library’s new home. The developer had proposed to turn the building into a “supportive housing” facility – which could mean anything from a senior center to a halfway house. 

Renovations are also coming to another library, the Spyuten Duyvil branch. It is looking to improve its heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, upgrade its bathrooms and create more space to accommodate an increasing number of visitors who come in each day. 

The cost of the renovations and the schedule of the work remain, however, to be established, branch manager Tim Tureski told the board meeting. 

The Libraries and Cultural Affairs committee of Community Board 8 usually meets on the first Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. at the Board’s office at 5676 Riverdale Ave., although locations occasionally vary.