The construction timeline for the Fields Corner Library now projects that the facility will be closed for 20 months, starting next spring 2024. The scheduling was laid out at the final design meeting last Wednesday (Sept. 27).

Officials with the Boston Public Library (BPL) have been meeting with the community and getting the wheels in motion to replace the one-story, 8,500-square-foot-library for several years, and now the time has come for thinking about construction.

“We have about 4.5 months left in the process to come up with a final design,” said Chris Genter of Oudens Ello Architects, which was hired for the project. “We would hope to get those documents together for bids in February 2024. If the bidding goes smoothly and we get the contractor on site as quickly, the library could close in the late spring for construction, and a new library would open up in late 2025.”

Construction would include demolishing the existing library on the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Park Street and replacing it with a two-story, 14,500-square-foor library that will be nearly twice the size of the existing facility.

A new rendering shows a generous glass façade showcasing the corner site, as well as an interesting overhanging roof to create shade and display the unique design. A carve-out outdoor terrace for reading and quiet meditation space is still in the plans on the second floor, as are a 100-seat community room and study rooms and classrooms.

The first floor would be home to the fiction collection, spaces for remote working, a service desk, a teen section, and a children’s wing.
Other elements displayed in the advanced design included details of the exposed wood interior, the inside wood screening, new sound buffers throughout, a charcoal grea brick façade, and a small seating area on Dorchester Avenue in front of the library – which will be pulled back about 10 feet from its existing property line.