Queens Library scraps designs after running over budget

 The Queens Library that was scheduled to come to Hunters Point last summer will likely to be delayed for several years, as plans are redrawn, after construction bids ran millions over budget.

President and CEO of Queens Library, Thomas Gallante, wrote in a letter to Friends of Queens Library at Hunters Point that their construction budget of $23 million would not be adequate to complete the project as bids ranged from $33 million to $42 million, according to the Times-Ledger.

Gallante blamed the high bids on “the overall complexity of the design and several unique, difficult to source, or expensive to procure, interior and design features.” The project was designed by celebrity architect Steven Holl.

After extensive design changes, the entire project will be reopened to “a new and more extensive list of contractors,” Gallante wrote.

As the project returns to square one, residents will have access to an expanded Queens Library of Court Square. Citibank has donated space on the ground floor of the Citibank Building, located at 25-01 Jackson Avenue, that will add 1,200 square feet to its current 2,000 square feet. [Times-Ledger] – Christopher Cameron