INDIANAPOLIS -- A little more than 108 years after Andrew Carnegie first donated the money for its construction, the historic East Washington Street Carnegie Library is reopening its doors this week in better shape than ever.
The building, located at 2822 E. Washington Street, is one of five Carnegie libraries built in Indianapolis in the early 20th Century. Three of them – the Spades Park Branch of the library, the former Hawthorne Branch, now a community center, and the building on East Washington Street – remain standing to this day.
The $2.4 million renovation was the first major work on the building since it opened in 1910. The renovation added a 2,200-square-feet expansion on the building's north side, a new 16-unit computer lab and a new children's program space.
The renovation also makes the library ADA-accessible, adding a new entrance and elevator for patrons with physical impediments or mothers with young children in strollers.
Although the library wants to tout the additions, it was also quick to point out the renovation kept many of the most iconic features of the original building intact – including two "book gnomes" that adorn the front entrance.
The library officially reopens at 10 a.m. Friday. But if you want a sneak peek at the newly renovated building, just click the image below:
Click the image above to see photos from the newly renovated East Washington Street Carnegie Library.
