When Jack Martin first walked into the Providence Public Library in 2014, he felt like someone had pressed the pause button on the building for about 35 years. The library’s layout was outdated, with spaces sliced into small, individual rooms and narrow hallways filled with drab drop ceilings and fluorescent lights.
“It was miserable,” he said of his first visit when he took the role of the library’s executive director six years ago.
He set to work on plans to bring the building into the 21st century, and it led to the state’s largest library renovation in its history.
Nearly complete, the almost $27 million project comes after a two-year design process and 18-month construction timeline that transformed the once-dark library interiors into a bright, state-of-the-art facility.
But there’s one thing Martin and his staff couldn’t have planned for: no one being able to show up when the work was complete. Their grand reopening date had been set for March 30, but the coronavirus pandemic put an end to that.
The project is one of several large developments in downtown Providence that have forged ahead despite the economic shutdown to slow the spread of COVID-19. Unlike in neighboring Massachusetts, state and city leaders allowed construction sites to stay open and active.
Still, the coronavirus crisis has presented problems, including scheduling and cost overruns due to a lack of laborers.
“The pandemic has unfortunately extended a lot of this for us,” said Martin, who estimates that about $500,000 was added to the bill because of the coronavirus’s impact.
Martin is expecting a soft opening in mid to late June, but it’s unclear what that will look like.
‘And now we’re still waiting and wanting to show it off to the public.’
JORDAN GOFFIN, Providence Public Library head curator of collections
He figures there will be requirements for face masks, social distancing and transparent plastic shields to protect employees, and there may be policies on appointment-only visitors and capacity limits.
“I’m not sure if we will be able to open the entire library or just certain spaces then,” said Martin. “This is all up in the air.”
It isn’t just Martin feeling the frustration.
“The biggest thing for me is that for years, we’ve been working toward [this] with some finish line in mind,” said Jordan Goffin, head curator of collections. “And now we’re still waiting and wanting to show it off to the public.”
The bulk of the library renovation focused on the 67-year-old wing that faces Empire Street and includes a state-of-the-art storage facility for the library’s collection of millions of dollars of rare materials that previously had been stored in an area that was not climate-controlled.
There’s also a new exhibition area and reading room, and a grand staircase cuts through all three floors of the 84,000-square-foot wing to accentuate its height. The children’s room has been doubled in size, a teen loft was added, and the 255-seat auditorium was upgraded. Reading nooks have brightly colored furniture alongside stacks of books and yellow-painted accent walls.
Meanwhile, a 3,000-square-foot space that has been set aside for a café on the first floor remains unfinished.
Other high-profile projects in downtown Providence are nearing completion as uncertainty remains.
Joseph R. Paolino Jr., managing partner of Paolino Properties LP, said they haven’t “skipped a beat” in the construction process on The Beatrice, a 47-room boutique hotel named after Paolino’s late mother and equipped with a rooftop, bistro lounge, art gallery and fitness center connected to the office tower at 100 Westminster St.
Paolino expects the hotel to open come August despite additional costs caused by the crisis.
“During this entire pandemic we’ve had to all suffer through, we’ve kept construction moving. But this has cost us in the millions more because of the pandemic,” said Paolino, who estimates that $4 million was added to the original $24 million price tag for the project.
Part of the additional cost came from Paolino purchasing a state-of-the-art, ultraviolet air purification system in an effort to make the Beatrice as much as a “germ-free hotel” as possible.
Elsewhere downtown, Providence-based development company Cornish Associates LP is wrapping up two major projects – Nightingale, a $55 million, five-story apartment building constructed on the parking lot once owned by The Providence Journal between Fountain and Washington streets; and a renovation of three historic buildings along Westminster Street that has cost $44 million so far.
The completion date for the remodeling of the Lapham, Wit and Trayne buildings has been delayed several times, not because of the pandemic but because of issues encountered in these historic structures, according to Arnold B. “Buff” Chace Jr., Cornish managing partner.
A new opening date has been set for July 31, but now there are other concerns for Cornish because of the pandemic: Will there be enough renters for the 142 apartments in the Nightingale and 52 apartments in the three rehabbed Westminster Street buildings?
“It could take six months to a year to lease up these apartments,” said Chase. “We just don’t know.”
Alexa Gagosz is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Gagosz@PBN.com.
