They could renovate the existing building.
Or abandon it in favor of erecting a totally new and bigger Central Library. Unless maybe it should be a new smaller one … ?
As experts and elected officials continue to wrestle over the future of the Atlanta Fulton Public Library System’s main branch downtown, it’s time for the public to weigh in. On June 14, Fulton County residents are invited to attend a meeting and provide input on what should become of the hulking Central Library located at One Margaret Mitchell Square.
What the Central Library should become — and where — has turned into a vexing question. Fulton County residents in 2008 approved $275 million in bonds to renovate existing libraries and build new branches as part of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. Phase I of the program, which called for the construction of eight new library branches around the county and major renovations to two existing ones, is nearly complete. Seven of the new libraries are now open, with the final new branch, Southeast Library, slated to open on June 30.
As part of Phase II of the original proposal, a new, larger Central Library was to be built, funded in part by private donations. But the library board of trustees has instead recommended building a downtown library that is about 20 percent of the size of the 265,000-squarefoot main branch. The current Central Library has broken elevators and a leaky roof. It could cost $85 million to renovate it, while a new main branch could be built for $40 million, according to Al Collins, the head of the system’s Library Services Division.
At a meeting last month the Fulton County Commission seemed to come down in favor of keeping the building — although it delayed making a decision about whether to renovate it for continued use as the centerpiece of AFPLS, or find another use for it. Several commissioners said they had heard from residents who wanted the Central Library, which opened in 1980 and was the last building to be designed by famed architect Marcel Breuer, to stay where it is. Others have suggested the money could be better spent on a new, technologically up-to-date building that is easier to maintain than Breuer's "Brutalist"-style structure.
The public input meeting is from 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. on June 14 on the Main floor of the Central Library. For more information, go to afpls.org.
About the Author
