New York Public Library Unveils $317M Facelift For Main Branch

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The New York Public Library's main branch is about to get a $317 million facelift. Its board of trustees has approved a new master plan to renovate the famed Midtown building, officials announced.

The new plan for the Steven A. Schwarzman Building — located within Bryant Park on Fifth Avenue between West 40th and 42nd streets — will increase the branch's space for research, exhibitions and educational programs by 20 percent, according to library officials.

The facelift is the work of Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo, which specializes in library design, and New York City-based firm Beyer Blinder Belle, which specializes in historic buildings, library officials said in a statement.

"We have developed a Master Plan that inherently adheres to the logic of a Beaux-Arts building," Mecanoo’s Francine Houben said in a statement. "Our changes are both subtle and clever — to direct the flow for different user groups, for example, or to improve the quality and function of currently underused spaces."

Changes to the library detailed in the master plan include:

• Transforming former staff or storage spaces into public spaces for research, exhibitions and educational programs.
• Transforming underutilized, historic spaces for research and programs, including the new Lenox and Astor Room.
• Constructing an entrance on 40th Street with a plaza and new elevator bank.
• Building new bathrooms and improving and modernizing library infrastructure.
• Building a new center for research and learning for high school and university students.
• Establishing a new permanent rotating exhibition of NYPL treasures in the library’s Gottesman Hall.

The renovations will prepare the library branch for future uses while maintining the historic building's architectural integrity, library officials said. Landmarked and historic interiors such as the Rose Reading Room and the maps division will be preserved.

Renovation work is expected to begin in 2018 and be complete in 2021. The project will be conducted in two phases using private funds.

"For over a century, the Schwarzman Building has been a beacon of open access to information and a tireless preservationist of the world’s knowledge," NYPLD President Tony Marx said in a statement.

"We have a responsibility to preserve its architectural wonder and its role as an important civic space, while also preparing it for the future, and another century of best serving the public. We believe this plan does just that."

Rendering courtesy New York Public Library