Statement before the Glenn A. Walsh
Council of
the
City of
Displacement of Telephone:
412-561-7876
Historic Carnegie Free Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@andrewcarnegie.cc >
Library of Allegheny Internet Web Site: < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
2006
September 12
Good morning. I am Glenn A.
Walsh of
In an August 31 news release,
Carnegie Library announced a decision to abandon the historic Allegheny
Regional Branch Library building on the North Side, in favor of development of
a new library on an empty lot on
Originally called the
Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny, this library building was very special to
Andrew Carnegie as it was built in the neighborhood where he grew-up. In 1904, Andrew
Carnegie commissioned architect Henry Bacon and sculptor Daniel Chester French,
who had collaborated on the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington Mall, to design
and construct a memorial to his mentor, Col. James Anderson, who had built the
city’s first public library. Originally built adjacent to the Library building,
today this memorial sits next to Buhl Planetarium, directly across from the Library
entrance.
The Allegheny Regional Branch
Library building is Andrew Carnegie’s first publicly-funded Carnegie Library in
the country. With construction of this Library in 1890, Andrew Carnegie started
funding libraries through “The Carnegie Formula,” which required the community
to annually subsidize the library by no less than 10 percent of the cost of
building construction. 1,677 libraries were built in the
The city’s oldest Library
building was completely renovated in the 1970s, so it is not outdated for use as a library. In fact, before lightning closed
the Library in April, it was the fourth busiest library branch in the city!
In the news release, Carnegie
Library states that they ”recognize the value of the historic nature of the
building and want to see a reuse for the facility.” They said the same thing
about the historic Hazelwood Branch Library and Auditorium three years ago—yet,
today the Hazelwood Library building sits empty and unused.
According to the news
release, Carnegie Library has met with North Side civic leaders and government
officials regarding this issue. This is not
a substitute for input from the general public.
This Library building is
owned by the City of
Thank you.
gaw