Bids have been opened to build a new Massachusetts state-funded library branch in Springfield.
The apparent low bid for the East Forest Park Library project is for $7.54 million from the Northampton-based general contractor D.A. Sullivan & Sons.
Springfield City Library Director Molly Fogarty said a September groundbreaking is planned for what will be the first new library building in Springfield since the 1990s.
"We are very excited and very pleased with the bidding process and that we are on budget," said Fogarty.
Plans call for a state-of-the art modern library building four times the size of the current neighborhood branch library which is housed in a strip mall storefront.
A year ago, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners announced a $4.9 million grant for the project.