After Town Hall opened its doors a month ago at the May 19 Council meeting, the new Moorestown Library is set to open within the week.
“Everything is nearly done, and we will just be waiting for the Certificate of Occupancy to open the doors to the public,” Project Executive Rob Notley said. “We are very proud of what this building stands for and what it will mean for the community.”
While the library was not destroyed in the fire that devastated Town Hall seven years ago, the township decided to attach a new library to the Town Hall that was to be built.
“The old library was a wonderful building,” Notley said. “We just wanted to create a modern building that reflected Moorestown and offered residents all the advancements of the modern world.”
There are a few striking differences between the old library and new one, inside and outside.
“The red brick and columns reflect the overall colonial feeling of Moorestown,” Notley said. “We also wanted to give the space an open feel with lots of natural light.”
There are also a lot of technical improvements in the new library. Screens will be displayed at the end of bookshelves to allow patrons to search for books, and there will be wifi throughout the building. There are also solar panels for hot water heating, and the air handling units feature UV treatment of supply air.
“It was very important that the new library be functional as well as beautiful,” Notley said. “Wifi was a major issue in the old library because of the thick walls and floor, so we made sure the new building would be wifi accessible throughout.”
And while the new features of the library will make the experience inside more enjoyable, the building itself is designed to bring the community together.
“To a great extent, these buildings symbolize Moorestown’s confidence and its continuing desire of being an attractive place to live and operate a business,” Moorestown resident Peter Vosbikian said. “Attracting people and businesses to a community begins with exhibiting the confidence to invest in itself.”
There were a lot of people involved with the project, including the Ragan Design Group, which developed the plans for the building, Greyhawk Construction, which provided project management, and Sambe, which did the construction.
“It’s a wonderful accomplishment by the people of Moorestown and all of those who worked hard to make this project a success,” Vosbikian said.
