Leaders from Hartford Public Library, UConn and the City of Hartford signed a $4 million agreement Thursday to renovate and lease space at the library for the university’s new downtown Hartford campus, expected to open in Aug. 2017.
UConn’s arrangement with the library runs 15 years. Its annual payments will cover expenses incurred by the library. The first year’s fee is $172,000.
The former Hartford Times building on Prospect Street is near the Arch Street entrance to the library. The reconfigured library space will house classrooms, a library collection from UConn, and study areas.
UConn’s reach extends to 38 Prospect St., which it bought in 2015 for $4 million for classrooms and offices. The university also hopes to use classroom space in the nearby Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in a plan still to be announced.
The agreement was signed by Bridget Quinn-Carey, the new CEO of the Hartford Public Library; Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin; and UConn President Susan Herbst.
UConn officials have previously said that sharing existing downtown space not only saves the university in building costs, but will further ingrain the university with city residents and businesses.
The flagship state college will renovate and occupy about 12,000 square feet of library space exclusively for classes/meetings/events once it relocates its West Hartford campus to new space downtown in the fall of 2017. UConn and the library also will share about 4,350 square feet in the 500 Main St. building, adjacent to City Hall.
