VIDEO: Construction on Carrboro, N.C.'s 203 Project Heading Toward Mid-2024 Finish
Tue March 07, 2023 - Southeast Edition #9 The Daily Tar Heel
The 203 Project in downtown Carrboro, N.C., is set to be completed and open in June 2024, Susan Romaine, the town's mayor pro tem, told the Daily Tar Heel, based in nearby Chapel Hill.
The 49,550-sq.-ft. facility is located at 203 South Greensboro St., which is reflected in its name. The land was donated by the town after its longtime use as a parking lot.
A total of 171 vehicle parking spaces within the building's deck will be built — 71 spaces more than the old lot's capacity, and another 70 bicycle parking spots for bikes are planned.
Construction officially began on the multipurpose structure last August.
When complete, the 203 Project will be the largest public facility in Carrboro community history.
Its total cost is projected to be more than $41 million, with $18 million contributed from Carrboro and $22 million from Orange County. The two municipalities are partnering to get the facility built, Romaine said.
The 203 Project is on schedule if the weather allows its construction to continue, the Daily Tar Heel reported March 3. In January, the project was hampered by inclement weather, which took away 12 workdays during the month, as well as persistent labor and supply shortages.
"It's unusual for a construction project to be right on schedule, so we couldn't be more excited that things are moving along well," Romaine said.
The latest construction update from the town in late February also noted the completion of concrete columns and foundation walls for the library space, as well as a concrete structure for an elevator shaft. Preparations are being made by the contractor to pour the first-floor concrete slab, according to the project's webpage.
New Library to Be Multi-Purpose Facility
The 203 Project was originally drafted in 2016 in response to a request for a library in the southern end of Orange County, and the Carrboro held a groundbreaking ceremony in May 2022.
Romaine said the "seed" of the library was planted three decades ago by Nerys Levy, an activist and resident of Carrboro for 30 years. Levy believed in the importance of libraries being accessible to peoples of all races, creeds or orientations, Romaine told the Chapel Hill news source, and regarded libraries as the "base for democracy" in the United States.
"They could open up opportunities for literacy to anybody who walked in the door," she said in describing Levy's beliefs, adding that the library should bring in "hundreds of thousands of people" over the course of each year.
In an email to the Daily Tarheel last summer, Orange County Public Library Communications Manager Libby Hough said the Southern Branch Library will hold a diverse collection of books alongside meeting and program spaces for the community.
But the 203 Project will feature more than just a library; it also will house a Carrboro Recreation, Parks and Cultural Resources center, the studios of WCOM Radio and a teen center for recreational use.
"WCOM is already operating out of Carrboro," said Ben Schmadeke, Carrboro's capital projects manager. "They're a really small frequency radio station, so this will be their new home."
Additionally, plans call for the Orange County Skills Development Center to provide job training out of the 203 building, he noted.
As Chapel Hill — home of the University of North Carolina campus — and Carrboro share a border, the college town's public library is the closest such facility to Carrboro.
The Friends of the Southern Branch Library, an organization that aims to provide resources to library and literacy services in Carrboro, has advocated for a freestanding library to serve residents for the last 35 years, according to the group's website.
