Julissa Diaz and her five children go to the Park Library almost every day for all kinds of thing – books, programs and just a place to get away.

As one of the library’s biggest fans, there was no way Diaz was going to miss having her name attached to the new building going up at the corner of Park and Broad streets.

“This is perfect. I am very very happy,” Diaz said through a translator. “I’ve heard that there are going to be a lot of beautiful programs here.”

Diaz, Mayor Luke Bronin, HPL CEO and President Bridget Quinn-Carey, HPL board members and local activists left their own imprint, signing a second floor support beam to commemorate a new phase of the project.

“It’s something we like to do, kind of a traditional thing,” said Scott Scholl, project manager for Downes Construction Company.

Starting this week, the building will start to take shape. For the next six weeks the steel part of the structure will rise. Plans are for the project to be complete Spring 2021.

Spirits were high, with Quinn-Carey and board president Greg Davis happily greeting supporters over the two days of signing.

Graciela Rivera, manager of the Park Library, grew up in the neighborhood and has watched the branch change over the years.

“This is a beacon of hope for the neighborhood, something they can really be proud of,” Rivera said.

Work on the foundations and footings for the new Park Library, located on Park Street, will begin next week.

That project will take about six weeks, said Mark Parrino, HPL’s Director of Facilities Operations.

Once the foundations and footings are complete – “getting out of the ground,” as Parrino described it – the steel structure of the building will be assembled.

Without any delays from weather or the Covid-19 virus, that process could begin sometime in June.

The expected opening date is scheduled for May or June of 2021.

The new 13,000 square foot facility will replace the current 2,500 square foot storefront on Park Avenue. The new library will have a walk-in café, learning lab, community room, and a shared space for stacks, reading, and teen programs.

Demolition began January 15 on the crumbling Lyric Theatre, the future site of the Park Library. Aided by an excavator, crews dismantled the two brick buildings at the corner of Park and Broad streets, where the new 12.5 million library will be built. It’s on schedule to open at the end of 2020/early 2021. Delay in construction was due to site preparation, testing and environmental work. The buildings should be down before the end of January and construction will last about 12 months, depending on conditions. This new 13,000 sq ft library will replace the 2,000 sq foot space the Park Library currently rents two blocks north at the corner of Park and Babcock streets.

Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are now available for management of the Café at the new Park Library (set to open in the Fall of 2020). A mandatory pre-proposal on-site meeting of interested operators will be held at Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103 on August 12, 2019 at 10:00 a.m., at which time questions concerning the RFP package will be addressed. A representative of each proposer’s firm is required to attend and sign in. Proposers who do not attend the pre-proposal conference will not be permitted to submit a proposal. To learn more, please go here.

The city of Hartford on Tuesday started development of a new $12.5 million library in the South End’s Frog Hollow neighborhood.

Park Street Library Groundbreaking 7 (1)

On Tuesday, July 23, Hartford Public Library’s Chief Executive Officer Bridget Quinn-Carey, Hartford Public Library Board Chair Greg Davis and Hartford Public Library Board Secretary Ana Alfaro will be joined by Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, State Senator John Fonfara, State Representative Minnie Gonzalez, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, CT State Librarian Kendall F. Wiggin, and Hartford Architect Tai Soo Kim, to celebrate the groundbreaking for the Library’s new Park Library, which will revitalize the corner of Broad and Park Streets in Hartford.

The Connecticut State Library Board voted to approve Hartford Public Library’s construction grant for $1,000,000 at its November 23rd meeting. Funds will go towards the construction of the new Park Branch in the city’s Frog Hollow neighborhood.

Work on the foundations and footings for the new Park Library, located on Park Street, will begin next week.

That project will take about six weeks, said Mark Parrino, HPL’s Director of Facilities Operations.

Once the foundations and footings are complete – “getting out of the ground,” as Parrino described it – the steel structure of the building will be assembled.

Without any delays from weather or the Covid-19 virus, that process could begin sometime in June.

The expected opening date is scheduled for May or June of 2021.

The new 13,000 square foot facility will replace the current 2,500 square foot storefront on Park Avenue. The new library will have a walk-in café, learning lab, community room, and a shared space for stacks, reading, and teen programs.

Demolition began January 15 on the crumbling Lyric Theatre, the future site of the Park Library. Aided by an excavator, crews dismantled the two brick buildings at the corner of Park and Broad streets, where the new 12.5 million library will be built. It’s on schedule to open at the end of 2020/early 2021. Delay in construction was due to site preparation, testing and environmental work. The buildings should be down before the end of January and construction will last about 12 months, depending on conditions. This new 13,000 sq ft library will replace the 2,000 sq foot space the Park Library currently rents two blocks north at the corner of Park and Babcock streets.

Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are now available for management of the Café at the new Park Library (set to open in the Fall of 2020). A mandatory pre-proposal on-site meeting of interested operators will be held at Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103 on August 12, 2019 at 10:00 a.m., at which time questions concerning the RFP package will be addressed. A representative of each proposer’s firm is required to attend and sign in. Proposers who do not attend the pre-proposal conference will not be permitted to submit a proposal. To learn more, please go here.

The city of Hartford on Tuesday started development of a new $12.5 million library in the South End’s Frog Hollow neighborhood.

Park Street Library Groundbreaking 7 (1)

On Tuesday, July 23, Hartford Public Library’s Chief Executive Officer Bridget Quinn-Carey, Hartford Public Library Board Chair Greg Davis and Hartford Public Library Board Secretary Ana Alfaro will be joined by Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, State Senator John Fonfara, State Representative Minnie Gonzalez, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, CT State Librarian Kendall F. Wiggin, and Hartford Architect Tai Soo Kim, to celebrate the groundbreaking for the Library’s new Park Library, which will revitalize the corner of Broad and Park Streets in Hartford.

The Connecticut State Library Board voted to approve Hartford Public Library’s construction grant for $1,000,000 at its November 23rd meeting. Funds will go towards the construction of the new Park Branch in the city’s Frog Hollow neighborhood.

The new Park Library will be located at the southeast corner of Park and Broad streets.

The new library will be approximately 13,000 square-feet and two-stories high. It will be the largest of Hartford Public Library’s seven community libraries. The current Park Street Library is only 2,000 square feet.

Both buildings will be demolished.

Late July 2019

Summer 2021