The Orange County Board of Commissioners moved closer to making Carrboro’s 203 Project a reality last week with a vote to approve an additional $1.8 million dollars for the project.
This project is a joint venture between the Town of Carrboro and Orange County that intends to construct an Orange County Southern library branch as well as permanent facilities for the Skills Development Center.
In November of 2020, the Carrboro Town Council approved the schematic design for The 203 Project and authorized a $25.8 million budget shared between the town and Orange County.
Planned to be built off South Greensboro Street between Roberson Street and Carr Street, the multi-story building has been in the works for years. Outside of a new library branch, the project will include everything from offices for town departments to a performance space and Teen Center.
Current schematic designs show the building area of the project to be 50,600 square feet with more than 1,300 square feet of terrace area and 173 parking spots. The proposed site of the development is an existing Carrboro municipal parking lot.
A concept aerial view of The 203 building in Carrboro. (Concept art via Perkins + Will)
At Orange County’s Board of County Commissioners meeting earlier this month, the board approved an additional 1.8 million dollars on top of the 25.8 million previously allocated for the completion of the project. The base budget for the project was initially 24.5 million dollars.
Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners Renee Price said while the project is now over budget, it will be worth it for the community to get a new library.
“So, we made some concessions,” Price said. “We realized that we may have to make some changes in the budget next year in how we move forward. But we certainly value our relationship with the Town of Carrboro and so we made some changes to make it work.”
Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle said both the Town of Carrboro and Orange County Government are challenged to make the budget for The 203 Project work, however, she said the project will be a great investment for the town.
“It in and of itself is not an economic development project in terms of sales revenue, but it will bring hundreds of thousands of people downtown on a yearly basis,” Lavelle said.
The 203 Project is expected to bring 30,000 to 40,000 new visitors downtown from the library alone.
Following the most recent budget update, Lavelle said the town anticipates the opening of The 203 Project in late 2022, with construction beginning in the coming months.
“We needed to know this in early March so we can keep it on track and hopefully put a shovel in the ground in the fall,” Lavelle said.
In 2016, the Town of Carrboro began actively exploring development of the existing parking lot at 203 South Greensboro Street in response to a request from Orange County to locate the new Orange County Southern Branch Library there.
Learn more about The 203 Project here.
Lead photo via the Town of Carrboro and Perkins + Will.
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