Old Dallas Central Library | |
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![]() Old Dallas Central Library in 2007 | |
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Former names | Dallas Public Library |
General information | |
Type | civic |
Architectural style | Mid-Century modern |
Address | 1954 Commerce Street Dallas, Texas |
Coordinates | 32°46′50″N96°47′39″W / 32.780589°N 96.794151°W |
Construction started | 1954 |
Completed | 1955 |
Cost | $2.5 million |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 4 above + 2 below |
Floor area | 120,000 square feet |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | George Dahl |
Dallas Public Library | |
Part of | Dallas Downtown Historic District (ID04000894 [1] ) |
DLMKHD No. | H/48 (Harwood HD) |
Significant dates | |
Designated CP | August 11, 2006 |
Designated DLMKHD | February 28, 1990 [2] |
The former Dallas Public Library, now known as Old Dallas Central Library, is a multi-level civic structure located at 1954 Commerce Street in downtown Dallas, Texas (USA). It is located on the edge of the Farmers Market District and adjacent to Main Street Garden Park. It is a contributing property in the Dallas Downtown Historic District and the Harwood Street Historic District and, along with the adjacent Dallas Statler Hilton, represents the best block of mid-twentieth-century architecture in Dallas. [3] It was part of Dallas Public Library.
The Dallas Public Library was designed by noted architect George Dahl as the replacement for the 1901 Carnegie Library located on the same site. While Carnegie Library was being razed and the new library constructed, the Dallas Public Library moved their collections to Union Station temporarily.
The library opened in September 1955 capable of holding 800,000 volumes but only containing 300,000 books. [4] It contained 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) on 4 above ground levels and 2 below ground levels, with provisions for 2 additional floors in the future. The auditorium in the second basement seated 250 people and a terrace allowed for a rooftop garden. [5]
The Dallas Public Library moved their collection to the larger J. Erik Jonsson Central Library upon completion of that building in 1982. The building was sold to an investment company which also owns the adjacent Dallas Statler Hilton, but the building has remained vacant since the library's departure.
In December 2017 The Dallas Morning News relocated its headquarters to the building after a lengthy redevelopment. [6] The newspaper's increased focus on creating digital content and relocation of the printing presses from the former Young Street headquarters were cited as reasons for the transfer.
From the beginning, the new library building's artwork caused controversy. Harry Bertoia was commissioned to design a metal screen to hang above the circulation desk. When his $8,500 abstract "Textured Screen" was unveiled in 1955, Dallas Mayor R.L. Thornton called it “a bunch of junk painted up,” and a “cheap welding job.” [7] Outrage over the sculpture grew so much that architect George Dahl purchased the artwork himself and moved it to his private home, where it remained until wealthy and embarrassed citizens donated money for the sculpture. It was reinstalled in time for the library's opening, and now resides inside the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library.
The façade of the library contained an 880-pound, 20-foot (6.1 m) high aluminum sculpture by Marshall Fredericks entitled "Youth in the Hands of God." Symbolizing "the hands of God supporting youth reaching for learning through the medium of literature," the $12,000 relief sculpture depicted two hands lifting a boy wearing blue jeans. The library planned to take the sculpture with them to the new building, but it remained on the empty building for several years. In 1993 the sculpture was sold and now resides at the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University. [8] [9]
Harry Bertoia was an Italian-born American artist, sound art sculptor, and modern furniture designer.
Carl Milles was a Swedish sculptor. He was married to artist Olga Milles and brother to Ruth Milles and half-brother to the architect Evert Milles. Carl Milles sculpted the Gustaf Vasa statue at the Stockholm Nordic Museum, the Poseidon statue in Gothenburg, the Orpheus group outside the Stockholm Concert Hall, and the Fountain of Faith in Falls Church, Virginia. His home near Stockholm, Millesgården, became his resting place and is now a museum.
The Statler Hotel company was one of the United States' early chains of hotels catering to traveling businessmen and tourists. It was founded by Ellsworth Milton Statler in Buffalo, New York.
The Hilton Boston Park Plaza is a historic hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, opened on March 10, 1927. It was built by hotelier E.M. Statler as part of his Statler Hotels chain. A prototype of the grand American hotel, it was called a "city within a city" and also contains an adjoining office building. It was the first hotel in the world to offer in-room radio in every room.
Dallas City Hall is the seat of municipal government of the city of Dallas, Texas, United States. It is located at 1500 Marilla Street in the Government District of downtown Dallas. The current building, the city's fifth city hall, was completed in 1978 and replaced the Dallas Municipal Building.
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The Cleveland Mall is a landscaped public park in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. One of the most complete examples of City Beautiful design in the United States, the park is a historic site listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Republic Center is a mixed-use complex at 300 N. Ervay Street and 325 N. St. Paul Street in the City Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA), adjacent to Thanks-giving Square. The complex is located diagonally across the street from DART's St. Paul Station, which serves its Blue, Red, Orange, and Green light rail lines. It also contains part of the Dallas Pedestrian Network, with shops and restaurants in the lower levels of the building and is connected to the Bullington Truck Terminal.
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The Praetorian Building, also known as Stone Place Tower, was a 15-story, 58 m (190 ft) high-rise constructed in 1909 at Main Street and Stone Street in the Main Street District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It was regarded the first skyscraper in Texas and the first skyscraper in the Southwestern United States. It was among the first skyscrapers built in the entire Western United States, following the 1885 Lumber Exchange Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota and other taller towers in Minneapolis, San Francisco, Omaha, and Kansas City.
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The Statler Hotel & Residences is a hotel of mid-twentieth century design located at 1914 Commerce Street in downtown Dallas, Texas (USA). It is located on the edge of the Farmers Market District and adjacent to Main Street Garden Park. The hotel opened in 1956 as The Statler Hilton and was praised as the first modern American hotel and was designed by William B. Tabler. Later renamed the Dallas Grand Hotel, it closed in 2001, then was restored and reopened in 2017. It is currently a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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