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| Today, the recovery that New Orleans Public Library has been working steadily toward since Katrina destroyed two-thirds of our facilities is beginning to take a clear shape and pick up speed. This page will keep you abreast of our recovery in progress. | |
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Five New Libraries for New Orleans NOPL leads in the City's recovery with the construction of 5 new libraries beginning this year. These locations are part of the Design Build process, an accelerated architectural and construction project producing new state-of-the-art facilities in 2010. LINK HERE to see the designs |
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Robert E. Smith Branch Groundbreaking Ceremony Library and City officians joined members of the Lakeview community on January 28 to break ground for the new Robert E. Smith Branch. The re-designed library will be approximately 13,000 square feet and will offer sustainability features including public transportation access, energy efficiency, bicycle storage, water-efficient landscaping, water-use reduction and passive cooling. The Robert E. Smith Library is being constructed as a design-build project, a non- traditional alternative to the current Design-Bid-Build method normally used in public construction projects. Design-build projects join the architect, engineer and contractor under one project delivery contract, making a single source responsible for design, construction and scheduling, allows for greater cost control and leads to quicker delivery of the project. The facility will cost approximately $4 million and has an anticipated completion date of late 2010. |
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Gentilly Branch Groundbreaking Ceremony On December 29, City and Library officials gathered to break ground for the new Norman Mayer Branch. The library, known to most as the "Gentilly Branch," was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; the new facility will be expanded from 7,850 square feet to approximately 19,000 square feet. The structure's $5.5 million cost is being funded by FEMA, Disaster Community Block Grant Funds, and Energy Grant. The building has an anticipated completion date of late 2010. |
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Gentilly Branch Site Expansion On December 17, recently purchased property next to the Gentilly Branch was demolished to make way for construction of the new 18,000 square foot branch at 1200 Foy Street. The ground breaking for the new branch is coming soon! |
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East New Orleans Regional Branch Groundbreaking Ceremony The East New Orleans Regional Library Ground Breaking was held on Dec. 4, 2009. The 30,000 sq. two floor building is expected to be completed in late 2010. |
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On October 2, the Robert E. Smith Library was demolished -- the third of NOPL's Katrina-damaged branches to be torn down. The demolition paves the way for the construction of a new 13,000 square foot facility on the old Smith Branch footprint.
Click on the small image at left to see additional pictures of the Smith Branch demolition. |
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East New Orleans Temporary Branch Opens
The East New Orleans Temporary Branch, 5641 Read Blvd., will officially open to the public on Monday October 5, 2009.
The Hours of Operation and phone number are:
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Design-Build Project for Five Branch Libraries (Algiers Regional, Nora Navra, Gentilly, Smith, East New Orleans)
Selection Committee and Oral Presentations |
| East New Orleans Branch Comes Down | |
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On February 16, the second of our flood-damaged branches -- the East New Orleans Regional Branch at 5641 Read Blvd. -- was demolished to make way for the construction of a new branch within the next two years. The new branch, fast-tracked in the Design-Build process described below, will be more than twice the size of the old branch, and the cost of construction will be covered by FEMA public-assistance grants and Community Development Block Grants. Meanwhile, a temporary modular library, funded by the Gates Foundation, will be in place within the next several months. |
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Five Libraries Added to Design-Build Process
The City of New Orleans has fast-tracked the demolition, planning, and construction of five NOPL branches closed after Katrina: Norman Mayer (Gentilly), Algiers Point, New Orleans East, Robert E. Smith, and Nora Navra. The City will solicit contractors to bid on and complete design and construction of these branches during 2009.
Read the Design-Build ordinance here.
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Demolition in Gentilly | |
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On February 4th, the Norman Mayer ("Gentilly") Branch, 2098 Foy Street, was demolished -- the first step toward the rebuilding of this facility, which served the Gentilly neighborhood since 1949. The City has concluded negotiations with FEMA regarding the percentage of storm damage and FEMA's share of the rebuilding costs.
While the construction of a larger, permanent structure progresses, the Gentilly neighborhood will be served by a new temporary branch to open this summer in the former Rainbow store in the business strip near the old branch. Click on the small image at left to see a larger version of the Gentilly Branch coming down. |
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Three New Temporary Libraries Open
   NOPL has recently opened three temporary branch facilities, thanks to a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and SOLINET (Southeastern Library Network). These modular facilities are Lakeview, Keller, and Algiers Regional. Link here for location, hours, and contact information for our new facilities. |
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Rosa Keller Branch and Community Center | |
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Eskew, Dumez & Ripple, the architectural firm responsible for the renovation of the Rosa F. Keller Library and Community Center, has provided a rendering to give an idea of what the project will look like upon completion. NOPL is pleased to have the firm on board and excited to see this renovation get underway.
Click on the small image at left to see a larger version of the rendering. |
SoFAB Partnership | |
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NOPL has recently embarked upon a collaboration with the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SoFAB) and will shortly be opening a culinary collection housed at the Main Library. The non-circulating collection will be made up of approximately 5,000 cookbooks and culinary texts from around the South and the Nation. Those who are interested in donating additional cookbooks can contact the Southern Food and Beverage Museum at (504) 569-0405.
Click on the small image at left to see a larger version of the photo of NOPL Board Chair Irvin Mayfield at the press conference announcing the SoFAB/NOPL partnership.
Link here to read the press release. |
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2/1/2010 | |
