FDR Library & Museum Announces $17.5 Million for Renovation

Included in the 2009 Federal Budget, this amount will allow the library to begin long planned-for renovations according to  Cynthia Koch, the Library’s Director . “With this funding we can at long last begin to address the serious problems facing this landmark building. Because the Library looks so durable – like a sturdy Dutch farmhouse – it has been hard for people to understand that its deteriorated condition endangers the continued preservation of the world’s only archive of the Roosevelt presidency.”“This funding will enable us to begin the first phase of work that will correct problems with groundwater and leaking roofs, update outmoded electrical, security, and HVAC systems, and make the building fully handicapped accessible. With additional funding required in 2010 and 2011, the project is expected to be completed in 2013, when the Roosevelt Library will for the first time meet the National Archives environmental standards for the long-term preservation of the irreplaceable collections housed in this building.”

The Research Room and the Museum will remain operational throughout, although they will be temporarily relocated to the Wallace Center and the newly renovated William J. vanden Heuvel Gallery.

One of 13 Presidential libraries operated by the National Archives and Security Administration, the FDR Library and Museum was identified at the top priority capital improvement project in the NARA budget submission. The project will create between fifty and seventy-five construction jobs in this first phase.

For more information, contact Cliff Laube (845) 486-7745 at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.