When the facility opens this spring, Bookspan's Long Island headquarters at 501 Franklin Ave. here will include the firm's executive, marketing and administrative operations and Bertelsmann mediaSystems data center. The expansion space is a former factory that was completed in 1910 with the cornerstone being laid by Theodore Roosevelt. Part of the $45 million put up by Bertelsmann will be used for preservation and restoration of the three-story structure.

"With the national economic downturn presenting major challenges across the country, the decision by Bookspan and Bertelsmann to invest here on Long Island represents a tremendous vote of confidence in the future of New York State," Pataki said at a ceremony to formally announce the project.

The building will be connected to Bookspan's current 110-sf headquarters at 401 Franklin Ave. via pedestrian bridge. The connecting bridge replaces a building that previously linked the 401 and 501 Franklin Ave. facilities. That building was razed to improve traffic flow at the complex, with a street now running between the two remaining buildings for easier vehicular access to the back of the complex and to the Long Island Railroad Country Life Press station.