GREENPOINT — The neighborhood's drab outpost of the Brooklyn Library will close at the end of June for a year-and-a-half-long, $15 million revamp that will transform it into a state-of-the-art green building with three tiers of gardens, reading rooms and an environmental education center.
The Greenpoint Library will close June 30 until the end of 2018 so the demolition and reconstruction can begin, according to Brooklyn Public Library officials.
During the closure, bookmobiles will be parked near the Greenpoint Library on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Or bookworms can head to nearby libraries such as the Leonard Library at 81 Devoe St.; the Williamsburg Library at 240 Division Ave. or the Bushwick Library at 340 Bushwick Ave.
Once the facility at 107 Norman Ave. is finished, it will be equipped with solar panels, wind turbines, a rainwater harvesting systems and an energy efficient heating and cooling system that set it far beyond the standards for LEED certified sustainable buildings.
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently gave the building plans an Excellence in Design award for its sustainability and design.
The project was paid for with $5 million from the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, money that was given to Greenpoint as part of the state settlement with ExxonMobil for years of oil pollution. The facility will include an environmental education center that will provide a locus for programs, exhibits and community meetings.
The Brooklyn Public Library is pitching in an additional $10 million, according to the library's website.
