Opening of the Hampton Library running behind earlier forecast

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The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton is slated to open in mid-December, about two months later than earlier projections.

Earlier this year, library officials anticipated that the project would be completed by mid-October. Library Director Susan LaVista explained Friday that that plan was a little too ambitious. “We were a little over-hopeful in when it would be finished,” she said.

The library’s temporary location in the old Marders’ building on Montauk Highway will close on November 30, according to a press release from Ms. LaVista. Ms. LaVista wrote that library patrons can use the John Jermain Memorial Library on Main Street in Sag Harbor or the Rogers Memorial Library on Coopers Neck Lane in Southampton in the interim. Some programming will continue to be held at the old Marders’ building while the new library is completed.

Ms. LaVista emphasized that preliminary plans for the project allowed for an 18-month construction period. She explained that work on the renovation project—which will expand the size of the library by 4,300 square feet to a total size of 11,000 square feet—began in September of 2008. When the new building opens mid-December, the construction will have taken a total of 15 months, well-within the initially allotted 18 months, she explained.

Ms. LaVista expects that the construction work on the new library will be completed soon—she is only waiting for shelving to be installed. Books that were in storage have also been delivered to the library, she explained. “There’s a lot of finishing touches,” she said.

Once the construction is finished, all the library needs is approvals from the town and county. “We’re at the mercy of the fire marshal and other inspections,” Ms. LaVista said. “We’re looking for final inspections, and those things should happen without any hitch.”

Ms. LaVista added that it would be premature to state an exact opening date for the new library just yet.

The library has been operating out of the former Marders’ building, located on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton, for the past year and a half. Southampton Town purchased the Marders’ building in 2003 and agreed to allow the library to use it rent-free for two years if the library renovated the interior. It cost the library about $210,000 to renovate the building.

Mary Wilson, the administrator for the CPF, said on Friday that she did not know what would happen to the old Marders’ building once the library moved out.

Jessica DiNapoli