(WHITE TWP., December 23, 2009) – Warren County closed on the purchase of a building that will become the new location of the county library system’s Northeast Branch, Freeholder Director Richard D. Gardner announced.

“It’s going to be pretty exciting,” Gardner said. “This was an opportunity that this board could not pass up.”

The county took ownership of the building at 30-42 Route 46 in Independence Township on December 23 in a $900,000 purchase. On December 9, the freeholders approved an ordinance appropriating up to $1.1 million for the project, with that money going toward the purchase and construction work to adapt the facility for a library.

The building previously was the location of Best Fruit Farm and other stores. Included in the purchase is the building of about 9,000 square feet on a two-acre tract, and a parking lot with 56 spaces.

The existing Northeast Branch of the Warren County Library is located about a quarter-mile away, in a cramped location with only a handful of parking spaces.

Richard Moore, who retired earlier this year as the county library director, said the purchase was a “sensible and prudent” move.

"I think the freeholder board should be complimented on taking this step,” Moore said, adding it is a gift to library patrons “that’s going to keep on giving.”

The county will now move to hire an architect to plan the building’s redesign, then solicit bids and begin construction in 2010, Freeholder Everett A. Chamberlain said.

Gardner said the freeholders are continuing to work on possibilities for a new county library headquarters to replace the insufficient facility now used in Belvidere. Gardner said he hopes to have an announcement in six months or sooner on the headquarters.