Central Library | |
---|---|
General information | |
Location | Indianapolis, Indiana |
Address | 40 E. St. Clair St. |
Country | U.S. |
Coordinates | 39°46′42″N86°9′24″W / 39.77833°N 86.15667°W |
Opened | October 8, 1917 |
Renovated | 1975, 2007 |
Owner | Indianapolis Public Library |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 6 |
Floor area | 293,000 square feet (27,200 m2) |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Paul Philippe Cret |
Architecture firm | Zantzinger, Borie & Medary |
Renovating team | |
Architect(s) | Woollen, Molzan and Partners |
Other information | |
Parking | 397 spaces |
Public transit access | 39 Indiana Pacers Bikeshare |
Website | |
www | |
Central Library (Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library) | |
Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 75000045 [1] |
Added to NRHP | August 28, 1975 |
Central Library is the main branch of the Indianapolis Public Library in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The building was designed by Philadelphia-based architect Paul Philippe Cret (with Zantzinger, Borie and Medary). [2] The original Central Library building was constructed in Greek Doric style architecture, faced with Indiana limestone on a Vermont marble base. Central Library opened to the public on October 8, 1917. [3] The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Central Library (Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library) on August 28, 1975.
It is the third-oldest library in Indianapolis still used for its original purpose, preceded by the East Washington (1911) and Spades Park branches (1912).
Central Library was built on land donated by the poet James Whitcomb Riley. The library opened on October 7, 1917. [4]
Central Library has undergone a number of expansions and renovations over the years. A 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) annex to the Central Library was completed in 1975 and the restoration of historically-significant architecture was completed in the 1980s. [3]
Central Library temporarily relocated to Old Indianapolis City Hall from December 2002 to December 2007 while expansion construction commenced.
On October 7, 2017, the Indianapolis Public Library commemorated Central Library's 100th anniversary with the opening of a time capsule, musical performances, and a birthday cake. [4]
The 3,800-square-foot (350 m2) Center for Black Literature & Culture opened in 2017, provided by $1.3 million in grant funding from the Lilly Endowment. The center houses some 10,000 books, magazines, DVDs, and e-books with plans to qruple the collection to 40,000 items over the next five years. The center's window banners pay tribute to local Black figures, including former Indiana Fever basketball player, Tamika Catchings, poet and playwright, Mari Evans, and Congresswoman Julia Carson. [5] Phase II of the project commenced after an Indianapolis City-County Council committee issued $5.3 million in bonds for facility upgrades and projects in July 2020. [6]
In 2019, the Indianapolis Public Library, in partnership with Indy Pride and others, dedicated the Chris Gonzalez Collection, named for LGBTQ activist and Indiana Youth Group co-founder Christopher T. Gonzalez. The collection of 7,000 items relating to local and national LGBTQ+ history and culture was merged with the Central Library collection. [7]
The Indianapolis Special Collections Room is named for newspaper executive Nina Mason Pulliam. The collection contains various archival adult and children's materials, both fiction and nonfiction books by local authors, photographs, scrapbooks, typescripts, manuscripts, autographed editions, letters, newspapers, magazines, and realia. The collection features Kurt Vonnegut, May Wright Sewall, the Woollen family, James Whitcomb Riley, and Booth Tarkington. [8]
Central Library contains a number of distinguished architectural design elements. The main reading room 100 feet (30 m) by 45 feet (14 m) inside the main entrance has two flights of Maryland marble stairs, two 30 feet (9.1 m) diameter bronze light fixtures, and an ornamental ceiling designed by Clarence C. Zantzinger. The ceiling includes oil-on-canvas medallions and printers' colophons accompanied by a series of bas-relief plaster plaques depicting early-Indiana history. Reading rooms at the top of each staircase have wood paneling above oak bookcases and large leaded glass windows. [3] Central Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 28, 1975.
Writing for the Architectural Forum in 1918, architect Ralph Adams Cram described Central Library as "one of the most distinctive and admirable contributions to architecture that have been made in America." [9]
In 2001, Indianapolis-based architectural firm Woollen, Molzan and Partners was commissioned to renovate the historic building, expand with a six-story addition, and incorporate an underground parking garage. The new curved glass curtainwall façade and atrium would connect to the Cret-designed building, replacing the annex built in the 1970s. Evans Woollen III, principal architect, conceptualized the library's design as a secondary terminus to the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza immediately south. [10]
The $104 million project doubled the size of the library but proved controversial due to a number of design and construction flaws. [11] The renovated Central Library and its new atrium addition opened on December 9, 2007, two years behind schedule and over budget. [12] [13] [14]
Clowes Auditorium, a 329-seat theater on the library's northwest side.
In response to the George Floyd protests, a coalition of Indianapolis cultural leaders organized a grassroots public art project matching 22 Black artists with businesses interested in displaying messages of racial justice. In total, 24 pieces were painted on plywood-covered windows in downtown Indianapolis. To ensure their preservation, each mural was photographed and printed onto 3-foot (0.91 m)-by-5-foot (1.5 m) vinyl banners and exhibited at Central Library's Center for Black Literature and Culture. The banners are available for loan to the public for educational purposes. [25] [26]
During Black History Month, Central Library hosts "Meet the Artists," an annual art exhibition showcasing work by local African American artists. The idea for an exhibition was prompted by artist-in-residence Anthony Radford's firsthand experiences finding few spaces in the city featuring the work of Black artists. Radford pitched his idea to the library's African American History Committee in 1988, earning their support. The first exhibition in 1989 included 11 artists and drew 200 visitors.
"Meet the Artists" has grown to include an opening night gala of music, workshops, and a fashion show, followed by a month-long exhibition, regularly drawing more than 1,500 participants. More than 400 Black visual artists, poets, dancers, authors, and musicians have been featured since the event's establishment. [27]
Indianapolis, colloquially known as Indy, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. Located in Central Indiana, the city lies along the White River's West Fork near its confluence with Fall Creek.
Herron School of Art and Design, officially IU Herron School of Art and Design, is a public art school at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a professional art school and has been accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design since 1952.
White River Gardens is a botanical garden located at White River State Park in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Established in 1999, the gardens are managed and operated by the Indianapolis Zoo. In 2021, White River Gardens' 3.3 acres (1.3 ha) was home to nearly 50,000 plants of more than 3,000 species. The complex includes a conservatory, fountains and water features, outdoor gardens, a dining and event facility, and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of paths. The gardens are situated to the east of the zoo's entry plaza on the western bank of the White River overlooking downtown Indianapolis.
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The Indiana State Museum is a museum located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The museum houses exhibits on the science, art, culture, and history of Indiana from prehistoric times to the present day.
The neighborhood of Irvington, named after Washington Irving, includes Irvington Historic District, a historic district in Indianapolis, Indiana. The historic district is a 545-acre (221 ha) area that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. That year, the district included 2,373 contributing buildings, 5 other contributing structures, and 2 contributing sites.
The Indianapolis Public Library (IndyPL), formerly known as the Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library, is the public library system serving the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United States and its largest city, Indianapolis. The library was founded in 1873 and has grown to include a Central Library building, located adjacent to the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza, and 24 branch libraries spread throughout the county. In 2021, the public library system circulated 7.1 million items and hosted more than 2,500 programs for its 282,000 cardholders.
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The Indiana State Library and Historical Bureau is a public library building, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the largest public library in the state of Indiana, housing over 60,000 manuscripts. Established in 1934, the library has gathered a large collection of books on a vast variety of topics.
The Indiana World War Memorial Plaza is an urban feature and war memorial located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, originally built to honor the veterans of World War I. It was conceived in 1919 as a location for the national headquarters of the American Legion and a memorial to the state's and nation's veterans.
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Clowes Memorial Hall, officially known as Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler University, is a performance hall located on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Opened October 18, 1963, it hosts numerous significant concerts, orchestras, musicals, plays, and guest speakers. Clowes Hall anchors the Butler Arts and Events Center, which includes the Schrott Center for the Arts, Shelton Auditorium, the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall, and the Lilly Hall Studio Theatre.
The Birch Bayh Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, formerly known as the U.S. Courthouse and Post Office and as the Federal Building, is a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, located in Indianapolis. It is a distinguished example of Beaux-Arts architecture, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Constructed from 1902 to 1905, the United States District Court for the District of Indiana met here until it was subdivided in 1928; the United States Circuit Court for the District of Indiana met here until that court was abolished in 1912. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "U.S. Courthouse and Post Office" in 1974. The courthouse was renamed in honor of Senator Birch Bayh in 2003.
Woollen, Molzan and Partners (WMP) is a U.S.-based second-generation architecture, interior design, and planning firm that Evans Woollen III founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1955. The firm was previously known as Evans Woollen and Associates and Woollen Associates. It remained in business for more than fifty-five years before closing its doors in 2011. Woollen began by designing mid-century modern residences, but the firm's design projects expanded to include a diverse portfolio of designs for libraries, worship facilities, museums, performing arts centers, private residences, public housing, and correctional facilities, among other projects.
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Altogether I cannot help feeling that this Indianapolis Library is one of the most distinctive and admirable contributions to architecture that have been made in America.