Apple Store (ex Carnegie Library), Mt Vernon Square. December 2021
Gutted
Andrew Carnegie built libraries across the United States with his wealth, some of which were spectacular monuments to public dissemination of knowledge. The one in St Louis is still as grand as the New York Public Library. Another of them was in Washington, DC on Mount Vernon Square built in 1903. The library was extremely successful and almost outgrew its capacity immediately. Carnegie also funded a couple other library branches in the capital, but the Mount Vernon Square Branch was the main one. This library shares the monumental style of architecture, "Beaux Arts", with many other DC buildings. Not only is it beautiful, but the library was racially non-segregated 60 years before that became law in the USA.
Fast forward and DC desperately needed a newer and larger library. The much expanded Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library was constructed a few blocks from the Carnegie Library. The Carnegie building stayed empty for a decade, then the University of the District of Columbia planned to renovate it as part of a downtown campus - which never really worked out. Meanwhile the MASSIVE DC Convention Center was built across the street. The Washington Historical Society moved into the former library space in 1999 as the City Museum but also failed. The International Spy Museum which now blights L'Enfant Plaza and mars an IM Pei inspired plaza twice tried to use the building and failed to get the necessary approvals (bullet dodged perhaps). Finally, Apple agreed to renovate the space for its flagship store in the capital. The current building also holds DC historical exhibits and event space. The last interior renovation is stark and minimalistic - one might never know it had been a library.
What a shame that the Martin Luther King, Jr Library was not built across the street instead of the Convention Center. A tunnel could have connected the two buildings and the Carnegie Library would at least still be part of the DC Library system. Of course, I am happy (as are many others) that the building is still in use, but how ironic that what was the centerpiece of the capital's library system had to be saved from potential demolition by the very capitalism that created it. An even deeper irony is that now we carry libraries in our pockets which obviate the need for large old buildings. Perhaps the Apple store indeed represents the "library of the future".
My early adult, formative years were spent in DC in the 1980s. The city was different then - dangerous in parts, neglected in others. My adult, traveled self would be bold enough to say it was a "shameful" capital - how could the USA with such power and wealth have let its capital city decline to that degree? What had started as a grand city plan of a French architect slowly decayed into urban blight. I remember the Carnegie Library as a lovely building abandoned in a bad part of town, seemingly without much hope. When said hope arrived, DC went through a dubious renaissance of gentrification and new building. This renewal was not done according to the master plan à la L'Enfant,{see: DC Court of Appeals] but instead as a series of knee jerk reactions to specific needs of the moment. For me, the Carnegie Library represents a treasure saved, yet an opportunity lost.
At least they didn't tear it down.
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