James Blackstone Memorial Library

The James Blackstone Memorial Library is a public library located in the heart of Branford, CT. In the late 1800s, the town of Branford put together a council to help attract potential investors. The council reached out to former resident Timothy Blackstone who at the time was the president of a successful railroad company. Timothy donated $300,000 to build the library and named it after his father, James Blackstone. The library was built in the Neoclassical Revival style with accents from the Athenian Acropolis which architect Solon Spencer Beman wanted to implement. The library was completed in 1896 and contained around 6,000 books. As of 2011, the library has close to 80,000 volumes in addition to thousands of eBooks and audiobooks. KSR was the general contractor on this nearly 1-million-dollar project. We self-performed many specialty trades on this project including the masonry restoration. The library remained fully-occupied throughout construction as KSR restored the limestone façade, restored the wood windows, and repaired the roof.