Coming to Bell Works in Holmdel: A Town Library

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By Joseph Sapia
HOLMDEL – Work is expected to begin soon on the township’s new, bigger and better library, to be housed at the Bell Works professional complex.
The modest but busy library, a branch of the Monmouth County Library system, is currently located in the basement of Town Hall. The new address will be on the second floor of the former Bell Labs building, a 2-million-square-foot structure located two miles south of Town Hall on Crawfords Corner Road that is the centerpiece of an ambitious mixed redevelopment plan.
The size of the library will increase sevenfold, from 2,500 to 17,000 square feet, said township Mayor Eric Hinds. “It’s really important to us,” Hinds said. “It’s a home run for the town.”
Judith Tolchin, director of the county library system, said the new location is a great opportunity for library patrons. “I think it’s a wonderful move for Holmdel residents and the rest of the county.”
The township recently signed an agreement with Bell Works developer, Somerset Development of Lakewood, in which the library gets a perpetual free lease, Mayor Hinds said. Bell Works would cover $1 million of the estimated $1.5 million to $1.6 million in renovations to accommodate the library in the professional office space, with the township responsible for the rest, Hinds said.
Work on the new library is to begin in the first quarter of 2017 and could be completed within nine to 12 months, Hinds said.
The new library was designed with input from the town, library staff and library patrons, and will include space for books and computers, along with meeting room space, Tolchin said. The county library system will provide the staffing and materials for the library.
“It was really a collaborative partnership,” Tolchin said. She expects the staff to increase from four to perhaps six staff members.
The 450-acre site with its massive glass-walled complex and iconic water tower shaped like a transistor and designed by architect Eero Saarinen, sat empty for a decade after Bell Labs, AT&T and Alcatel Lucent abandoned it.
Now, under Somerset Development’s revitalization plan, the building is being envisioned as a health center, a hotel, retail space, and office space for tech companies, among many other things.
It was recently announced that applicant tracking software maker iCIMS of Matawan has signed on to be a flagship tenant with 600 employees; several other tech companies have also taken space. Jersey Central Power and Light Company has also announced plans to relocate its headquarters from Red Bank to Bell Works with 200 employees next summer.
Part of the redevelopment plan is new housing on the property. Toll Brothers is planning 225 units of luxury housing on parts of the 478-acre parcel.