12
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MARCH 3, 2019
Choose your
own ending!
Library leaders invite locals to weigh in on
$22M makeover of New Utrecht branch
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New York
RESTAURANT
COLANDR EA
EST. 1936
FOUNDED OVER
82
YEARS
BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
Brooklynites can write
the book on this library’s
future.
Bensonhurst bibliophiles
of all ages and backgrounds
can help shape a
multi-million renovation
of their local New Utrecht
Library at an upcoming
workshop with chief book
lenders, according to a
spokeswoman for the borough’s
library system.
“Regardless of one’s age
or what language a person
speaks, he or she will be
able to participate,” said
Fritzi Bodenheimer. “The
workshop is participantdriven
and avoids architectural
and planning jargon.
The feedback will be
captured and shared with
the architects.”
The March 4 workshop
hosted by library leaders
at the 86th Street branch
between Bay 16th and Bay
17th streets will give locals
the chance to share new
design and programming
ideas for the 62-year-old
reading room, which is set
for a three-year, $22-million
renovation slated
to begin in 2021, Bodenheimer
said.
Attendees will get to
use everyday bric-a-brac
— including pipe cleaners,
Legos, buttons, Popsicle
sticks, and cotton
balls — to physically illustrate
their visions for the
library, according to the
spokeswoman, who said
the arts-and-crafts projects
will inform how designers
ultimately reshape
the facility’s interior to
make space for more public
programming, as well
as its facade and exterior
landscaping, which librarians
hope to make more
eco-friendly.
The workshop follows
a series of communityengagement
events with
teens, reading-room staff,
and do-gooders with the
volunteer group Friends
of New Utrecht Library,
where those locals also
weighed in on the branch’s
next chapter, Bodenheimer
said.
Following the brainstorm,
reps for the project’s
chosen architect —
Manhattan-based Rice
and Lipka — will return
to the community to present
their makeover plan
to residents, who will then
get more chances to chime
in before the redesign is fi -
nalized next year, the rep
said.
Librarians will shutter
the branch for the entirety
of its 36-month renovation,
according to Bodenheimer,
who said all the
cash for the job came from
capital funding allocated
by Mayor DeBlasio.
Share your thoughts on
how to renovate the branch
at the workshop at the New
Utrecht Library (1743 86th
St. at Bay 17th Street in
Bensonhurst). March 4 at
6 pm.
CHANCE TO CO-AUTHOR: Residents can help shape a massive
makeover of the New Utrecht Library at a March 4 workshop hosted
by borough book lenders. Photo by Steve Solomonson