Neighborhood Watch: Ward 8 Gets New Library, Wants to Give It Back
The Issue: The latest brush-up in the library turf wars is in Ward 8. In September, City Desk reported that some residents were unhappy with the new Washington Highlands Library’s futuristic pod design. The plan is still to raze the old library on 115 Atlantic St. SW and replace it with the new design in 2011. But some are making a last ditch effort to save the old library. They argue that the D.C. Public Library (DCPL) went ahead and closed it before the neighborhood had a chance to have its say. With Ward 8 having one of the lowest literacy rates in the District and only one full-service library—why are neighbors complaining about a spanking new building?
Save It! Some say that renovation is more eco-friendly and the money saved from renovating the building—about $2 million—could be used to expand services and hours. Last Saturday, about 40 Ward 8 residents rallied in front of the library to save the building, and four out of the five Ward 8 advisory commissions have passed unanimous resolutions for renovation. Ward 1C ANC Commissioner Chris Otten told City Desk: “The library moved quickly to close, even though [DCPL] doesn’t have the raze permit yet, or neighborhood support. The building is going to sit empty for months now.” In the meantime, he says, the neighborhood will lose valuable community meeting space because of the interim library’s small size. Ward 8E Commissioner Karlene Armstead feels DCPL closed the library without community consent: “Everything DCPL told us they were going to do has been lies, trickery, and deceit.”
Raze It! (And We’ll Give You a New One!): The $9.5 million library, designed by renowned British architect David Adjaye, will include a “garden, study rooms, new computers and an outdoor amphitheater." DCPL spokesman George Williams says the neighborhood was notified about the building closure through outreach at that library, media notices, and DCPL’s Web site. As far as the raze permit goes, he says it is up to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) to notify the ANC. He added that there is will be community meeting space opened up at Hadley Hospital and the new library will have a meeting room that accommodates 100.
Next Step: The new interim library will open around the corner at 4035 South Capitol St. SW on Dec. 21; the raze permit is currently sitting with DCRA.
Note: This post initially included a different version of the design rendering; the one above is the most current. Drawing plan courtesy of DCPL.
2:37 pm
That is a picture of the OLD library design. It has seen been renovated in response to community feedback. You can get the new rendering on the public library website. The new rendering is really nice and there are still a lot of people in Ward 8 who are happy to have a brand new and mordern library and who like the new design.
2:40 pm
Here's the new rendering: http://philipkennicott.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/washington-higlands-exterior-image.jpg
3:40 pm
So, it was ok for the residents in Georgetown/Tenley to complain about the aestheticly unappealing look of their proposed library but Ward 8 folks should just shut up and deal with what is being "thrown" their way? Contrary to popular belief, there's an array of educated and civic minded people residing in Ward 8.
3:45 pm
There is definetly an arry of educated and civic minded people residing in Ward 8 and I am sure they are on both sides of the new library design. Speaking for me I like the idea of a new library and I think the DCPLS should continue to work with the community to tweak the design. I have to agree the original design needed some work - it was borderline ugly. The new design is much better.
8:40 am
If the new building is around the corner, why does the old building need to be closed at all? Why not leave it open while the other one is being built?
10:48 am
@Huh - I haven't heard that new building is going to be around the corner. Its going to be at the same site as the existing building.Perhaps you are talking about the interim library? I think that is going to be around the corner.
1:47 pm
I feel so good when I read helpful articles like this on the internet.
9:45 pm
i think it's ugly, too.
But i don't live in Ward 8. Our town's never been good about involving or honoring neighborhood ideas in design processes. The closest i ever saw was the Park-Morton Redevelopment design process.