From the moment Dana Hysell took the job as director of the Field Library in October 2024, she said she had one project in mind: a vision to find a new home for an “outdated library” and some of the approximately 80,000 books.

In an exclusive interview, the Peekskill Herald has learned that a new state-of-the-art public library is set to be constructed at 41 North Division Street in downtown Peekskill in a partnership between the Children’s Village and the Field Library. The new facility will replace the library’s current location at 4 Nelson Avenue and will be operated by the same leadership team.

“I knew from the get-go, from the moment I took this job as director of the Field Library, that this was a project I wanted to work on,” Hysell told the Herald. “This was actually the first library in Westchester that I ever visited when I started at the library system, and I immediately knew that it was outdated and needed some help.”

In a press release Monday, Dec. 1, the Children’s Village said the library is part of its transformation of the historic Workers Compensation Building property into a mixed-use building with 22 affordable homes and 11,000 square feet of commercial space. The new library will offer expanded educational, cultural, and enrichment opportunities for residents of the new housing, as well as a “high-quality study and learning environment” for all of Peekskill.

Construction on the library is expected to begin spring 2026, with a total construction period of about 12 to 18 months. The Children’s Village is leading a $3 million capital campaign to fund the renovation and build-out of the new space.

Jeremy Kohomban, Children’s Village President and chief executive officer, told the Herald that his board of trustees wanted something that was more exciting than merely having a commercial space that helps cover the building’s cost. The modern building aims to be conducive to all the technological advances of today, like high-speed internet and 3D printing.

“Our board made the decision that revenue was not what would drive us with this commercial space,” Kohomban said. “And we basically said, ‘Look, just give it to the library. We’ll go raise the funds, we’ll lead the fundraising to find the $3 million’ — and we don’t need to make money on this space.”

The project is building on significant public investment and partnership. In September, New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and state Sen. Pete Harckham announced $1 million in funding for the mixed-use project. In June, the Westchester County Legislature announced an investment of $3.4 million to support the Village’s purchase and development of the property. Additional support has come from the Lanza Family Foundation, the Frog Rock Foundation, and New York state agencies.

Architect Joseph Thompson told the Herald that this change will move the library to a focal point of the community in downtown’s restaurant row area, and he is hopeful that it will spur additional patronage to surrounding businesses. In addition, the new location is closer to the arts district and Westchester Community College, allowing closer partnerships.

“There [are] a lot of benefits and advantages to the relocation,” Thompson said. “The library gets to update their space, to adapt to the needs of a 21st-century library, and better accommodate children’s and teen programs, as well as adult resources for learning and training and new seminar presentation rooms.”

The Field Library currently pays about $39,432 in annual rent to the City of Peekskill. That rent would now be paid to the Children’s Village at the new location. The cost for utilities will be shared proportionally. For the rent, the library has not entered lease negotiations yet, but the larger the contribution by the library to build the library, the less it would pay in rent.

The current collections will be downsized by about 15 or 20 percent in total across children’s, adult and teen genres. While the building will also be downsizing in terms of square feet, Hysell said visitors will never know it because it’s going to feel bigger and be a more cohesive library with spaces that can better suit the community space. 

The current library is 16,000 square feet, which includes the children’s library, adult/teen library with tech and offices upstairs, plus three program rooms, archives, and offices downstairs. That square footage does not include the nutrition center, which shares space in the building.

The new library of 11,000 square feet will have adult, teen, and children’s collections housed on one level. The program rooms, STEAM lab, archives, and more will be on the lower level. Offices, study rooms, and a conference room will be on the mezzanine level, overlooking the main library. A main lobby with direct access to the library will be a shared space for tenants’ mailboxes and elevator. Tenants will also have their own entrances.

The current location was built in the 1970s and is situated next to the Peekskill police station and court house. The library, which shares a space with the Senior Nutrition Center, has its children’s library and main library separated by a public hallway. Program rooms are located on the downstairs level and are too small to hold large community events, Hysell said. 

Hysell told the Herald that when she became library director, she shared her vision of a new location with City Manager Matthew Alexander and considered several empty buildings in the city and an available lot. When the Workers Compensation Building came to the table, Hysell met with Kohomban, whom she knew from her time at the Westchester Library System.

Kohomban then asked the Children’s Village’s board of trustees for funding to allow the development of renderings by Architect Thompson at about $20,000 so that the Field Library’s board of trustees could see Hysell’s vision. In addition, the library’s board of trustees visited another library the Children’s Village helped build at the Eliza, its affordable housing building in Inwood, Manhattan.

Both Hysell and Kohomban gave praise to the respective boards of trustees of the Field Library and Children’s Village for making the project a possibility. Hysell also said the city has been supportive of the efforts, including Alexander, City of Peekskill Mayor Vivian McKenzie, and the Common Council.

“The new library represents an extraordinary opportunity for Peekskill,” said Jamie Marley, Chair of the Children’s Village’s Board of Trustees, in a release. “A modern public library, right in the heart of downtown and connected to affordable homes, will bring learning, creativity, and community together under one roof. The enhanced educational and enrichment programming will expand horizons for the Peekskill community, and we are proud to help build a space where young people and families can grow, explore, and succeed.”

In a Children’s Village’s press release, officials praising the project include McKenzie, Stewart-Cousins, Harckham, and Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins, as well as Louie Lanza of the Lanza Family Foundation and Leonard Townes, Westchester County Commissioner of the Department of Social Services.

“This project brings together exactly what a thriving community needs: economic activity, stable housing, and access to strong educational resources,” McKenzie said. “The library will be a welcoming, modern space for residents of all ages, and new business activity will strengthen our downtown and expand opportunities for families. We thank the Children’s Village for their partnership and their commitment to Peekskill’s future.”

Alexander told the Herald the city has been collecting funding for the analysis of space that is available between the Kiley building and 41 North Division and discussing what kind of community center facilities the city would have, including the Youth Bureau at 828 Main Street and Neighborhood Center at 4 Nelson Avenue.

“We are going to be putting out a request for qualifications for a professional consultant who can help us plan around how spaces are used, and that will include the library space as well,” Alexander said. “And so we’re looking at any kind of use that supports the entire community.”

As for what might replace the The Field Library’s current space, Alexander said the city is planning to adaptively reuse the space in a way that “engages the community, with food, workforce development, and youth and seniors as the main elements.” 

In addition to fundraising efforts, the Field Library will be using two outstanding grant awards with a total of about $150,000 to reallocate toward funding of the project. Those include a grant from New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, originally earmarked for building a STEAM lab in the existing library that is no longer being pursued, and a SAM [State and Municipal Facilities] Grant.

“I truly believe that this new location provides an ease of access to the library,” Hysell said. “We are truly excited to be in this historic building, so walkable and in the liveliest part of downtown.”