ST PAUL, Minn. — The St. Paul Public Library made an announcement Thursday and confirmed it will close the Hamline Midway branch at the end of the month.
It will be demolished and a new one built in its place. For the city, it's all part of a plan to transform several libraries. But there's also a large group fighting to preserve it.
The 92-year-old library was the original brainchild of entrepreneur Henry Hale who even included funding for it in his last will and testament.
"It comes together as this great story and history of activism within the community," said Barbara Bezat, a historic preservation researcher.
She started holding a particular passion for the library when the city announced several years ago it would transform the library, and two others, to make them more accessible.
She even successfully fought to put it on the National Register of Historic Places in February - a distinction, though, that doesn't protect it from demolition.
"Just because the plumbing is bad in your building, you don't burn it down," said Bezat. "Just because your grandma is old, you don't put her out in the street."
Bezat says thousands of people signed a petition to fight its demise which will happen after the library closes officially, now on May 28.
The mayor and library's interim director, Maureen Hartman, are adamant about plans to replace it after months of engagement efforts with the community.
"They wanted more places to play and read with their children, they wanted more meeting rooms accessible to the public and they wanted an entrance everybody can come through," said Hartman.
The new library will be nearly 11,000 square feet. Renderings show a one-story layout with a children's area, outdoor garden, and study rooms. It's an overall design Hartman says reflects neighborhood cultures, while still preserving the original stone archway, bricks, and mosaic from the old building that will be incorporated into the new one.
"I think we're entirely focused on delivering what the community has asked for and the community asked for more services that cannot be contained in this space," said Hartman.
"I think some of the arguments simply don't wash when you think about the reality of historic preservation and renovation," said Bezat.
Bezat says she knows that other libraries, including several historic Carnegie libraries in Hennepin County, were restored rather than torn down.
She says the fight to save the one in St. Paul isn't over yet.
"I see this as, I was going to say a bump in the road, but maybe we just equate it to some of St. Paul's streets right now," said Bezat laughing. "There's a lot of potholes ahead of us, but they'll be fixed."
The St. Paul Public Library got $8.1 million in funding through the city's capital investment budget process.
The plan is still going through an environmental review process, followed by a 30-day public comment session where you can voice your opinion on the future of the library. Once construction starts, it should take 18 months to build the new library.
Watch more Breaking The News:
Watch all of the latest stories from Breaking The News in our YouTube playlist: