By Eva Posner
The San Diego Central Library, “a dream 30 years in the making” according to T-shirts worn by the staff, is a dream on the cusp of being realized as it opens for business Monday, Sept. 30, at 9:30 a.m.
The library, located on the intersection of 11th Avenue and Park Boulevard downtown, opened to the public for a sneak peek on Saturday to much hype.
A street fair surrounded the library with activities for kids, booths from local businesses, nonprofits and groups, as well as performers who sang, danced, and walked the street in costume.
The public was limited to the first floor, which includes the architecturally striking lobby, computers, a children’s library, gift shop, courtyard, auditorium, and a portion of the library’s million available books.
The “sneak peek” was undoubtedly a sales pitch to San Diego residents to show that the effort and money spent since 1977, when the library was first proposed, was worth it. According to U-T San Diego, the final library budget was $196.7 million, $62.8 million of which was donated by private donors, whose names can be seen on beams and bricks throughout the building.
Judging by the massive crowd, the pitch worked. I know I’m going to get a library card.
All photos by Eva Posner
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The library’s façade includes eight steel structures that mimic the dome-topped buildings in Balboa Park. -
Book-shaped windows on the Park Boulevard side of the building approaching the main entrance leave no doubt about what’s inside. -
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Costumed performers walk the street as African big cats. -
The arches of the Cabrillo Bridge in Balboa Park inspired the arch in the lobby. -
The ceiling in the grand entrance is made of concrete and woven aluminum. -
The library didn’t shy away from technology with self-check in/out kiosks and computers. Books can also be downloaded onto tablets. -
An exhibit from the Women’s Museum of California depicts the historic battle for women’s suffrage. -
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Glass cases in the Sanford Children’s Library show favorite characters in children’s literature. -
Characters in costume interacted with members of the public as a way to engage people in the potential of literature. -
The children’s library is decorated in characters from San Diego’s own Dr. Seuss, who spent the later years of his life in LaJolla. -
The Elizabeth and Dene Oliver I Can! Center provides services for those with disabilities, particularly visual disabilities. It also houses the library’s collection of large print books. -
The elevators have an artistic installation that had crowds gathered at the doors all afternoon. -
Elevator art includes sculptures, figurines, and glasswork. -
Actors from the San Diego Shakespeare Society will participate in “Bard under The Dome,” one of the many activities slated for opening day. -
A video wall in the lobby shows various images from around San Diego as well images to inspire learning. -
The LEGO library, built by 14-year-old high school freshman Micah Ohanian and Evan Rayder, helped to raise money for the library. Anyone who donated $100 dollars or more had a LEGO figurine placed in the structure in their honor. There are more than 25 thousand LEGOs in the 3-foot scale model. -
An artist paints a colorful rendition of the library’s logo in the courtyard. -
The view from 11th Avenue shows the starkly modern architecture to the newly completed addition to the San Diego skyline.
Eva Posner
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Great photos – can’t wait to check it out in person next week! Official opening day is Monday, September 30th from 9:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Special hours opening day only) per the library website:
a public effort if ever there was one… congratulations san diego! BUT,
we sure hope san diego officials don’t take this PUBLIC BAILOUT of the massive, if glorious, library project as a precedent for their next public project, because we, the people, are gonna get tired of bailing out our “elected officials” for over-spending… I say this having given $500 to the poor library last year in the water bill beg, but still got on the library foundation’s “forgotten” list for invitations, even a generic one, to the big opening reception ! and they have no idea where i might find our family”brick” or if it is even there …. good luck library foundation non-profiteers…
everything is over-priced when it comes from “the government” … even good things like libraries…
I’ve been hearing (I’m a volunteer as well as a brick-donor) that there are plans to have a brick map at some point so people can locate the brick they donated. This is not likely to happen very soon since they’ve reopened the Buy-A-Brick program; they have a lot more bricks coming. When all the bricks are in, they’ll start on a Brick Map.
The Library is exciting and I can’t wait to check it out. I want to kick back on the blue chairs in the reading room with a good read. I also might want to just look at the view. The numbers are staggering and the amount of time it took…wow! I hope it really becomes a hub for the entire community. Also with all the good things happening in the East Village I hope it keeps spreading to the Barrio and works to solve the homeless situation. Big words, Big jobs.
How about if the local benefactors got together and built a world class homeless shelter with private donations? That would be a worthy next step for the local philanthropic community. On the other hand would they be repulsed by the idea of having their names splashed all over a homeless center the way they’re splashed all over the library? Probably. Hey, but they could donate anonymously something some of them would never do.
Thoughts on this project:
I toured the building in December of 2011. At that time you could see the building was going to have a number of interesting spaces, nice concrete work. I look forward to seeing these spaces now, two years in advance.
The dome feature , exterior elevation composites are in the deconstructivist mode- derivative style of LA-Frank Gehry’s design break through in the 1970’s. The architect chose this vocabulary for this building at this particular site because that is his design style. Not sure that his style works for larger buildings or projects. At a smaller scale, his personal building on 13th/ Island is an outstanding example of this style. A must see for anyone who loves architecture.
My understanding is the General contractor had a laundry list of change orders based on the inadequate construction documents from consultants. ( not the consultants fault but the city did not want to pay to update the documents.) Any project that takes this long and involves a large number of change orders has to have a huge profit margin. How much money was spent on consultants and the general contractor? Ultimately these money things are forgotten if the building is beautiful and the public loves it. But still I would be interested to know. Who’s paying Who on public money?
Finally, the old Library is historically designated (including certain interior spaces) Lets hope this is a successful adaptive reuse project.