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STONE HARBOR - Cape
May County freeholders awarded a $5.3 million contract Tuesday to an
Absecon firm to construct a 13,500-square-foot library overlooking the
ocean on 95th Street.
The existing county library branch in the municipal building is just
750 square feet. R. Wilkinson & Sons Construction was the lowest
of nine bidders, said county Administrator Stephen O'Connor, who added
that the highest bid was $6.3 million.
"We expect to start construction before the end of the year and
be done by December 2012 or January 2013," O'Connor said.
The freeholders approved the contract in a unanimous vote.
The project has been in the planning and design stages, by Garrison
Architects of Marlton, for four years but faced permitting delays
from the state Department of Environmental Protection. It still needs
another permit from that agency.
"They want the building to be three times its height from the dune
line. We made adjustments. We reduced the height from 55 feet to 37
feet by eliminating a clock tower and moved the building 10 feet (inland),"
O'Connor said.
O'Connor said the changes should put the building within the regulations.
"We anticipate the permit coming anytime," O'Connor said.
County Library Director Deborah Poillon said the new building is a long
time in coming. She noted the existing library has room for only four
computers. The new one will have 13 computers, including eight for adults,
three for teens and two for kids.
There also will be a 160-seat meeting room and a smaller classroom with
projectors and screens. The larger facility also will provide more room
for books, DVDs, video games, e-books and other materials.
Besides more room and library materials, Poillon said the space will
allow monthly programs for the public including art, language, exercise,
cooking, nature lectures and children's events, including a weekly story
hour.
"We started talking to Stone Harbor about doing this in 2007. There
were just problems with the DEP," Poillon said.
Although shorter and 10 feet farther from the ocean, the facility still
will have windows facing the water and outdoor decks on the first and
second floors where people can read. A coffee bar and a museum also
are planned.
O'Connor said the Cape May County Library Commission is paying the tab.
It will even reimburse the county all administrative expenses for taking
the project out to bid.
Stone Harbor property owners pay among the highest property taxes in
the county, including library taxes, and Poillon said the town has not
received much in return until now.
"We're trying to rectify that," Poillon said.
She also expects residents to like the look of the building.
"We don't think it looks very municipal," she said.
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