Lately, we've been reading about all sorts of building (and other structures) being repurposed as libraries. There's the vacant WalMart in McAllen, Texas that was transformed into a massive public library that, in fact, won the 2012 Library Interior Design competition. And the big-box supermarket that morphed into the Eden Prairie branch of the Hennepin County (MN) library system. Or an old jail in Nassau, Bahamas which now holds books instead of prisoners. Not to mention the old train cars and shipping containers that now carry the means to transport readers rather than cargo.
But what about old libraries? They don't just fade away. They, too, have a storied history of repurposing and there's not better example than the Cultural Center in downtown Chicago.
The Cultural Center was built back in the day when public buildings were monuments to the glory of living and testaments to the continuing progress that mankind was making in pulling itself up from the swamps of ignorance and venality.
The Cultural Center was built back in the day when public buildings were monuments to the glory of living and testaments to the continuing progress that mankind was making in pulling itself up from the swamps of ignorance and venality.
The White City...
It was the heyday of neoclassical architecture. Chicago had just hosted the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, a monumental undertaking in which Daniel Burnham and Frederic Olmsted transformed a 600 acre marsh into a glorious utopian dreamland where grand edifices emboldened with elegant fluted columns and capped with stately domes rose above a stunningly crafted landscape and were reflected in man-made pools and the natural wonder just to the east, Lake Michigan. For an informative and entertaining account of this massive achievement, read The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (serial killers, urban planning and architecture: the nexus).
World's Columbian Exposition (courtesy blueprintchicago.org)
In 1891, Chicago actually had the largest library system in the country, possessing well over 120,000 volumes. These volumes had been essentially homeless, moving around from one temporary location to the next. Finally, the Library Board decided that it needed a permanent residence and after some wrangling over the location (the state legislature had already given part of the preferred site to a Civil War veterans organization), it was decided that the new building would serve both a central library and as a Memorial Hall to the Grand Army of the Republic, honoring the Northern soldiers who had fought in the Civil War. The instructions that the board gave to all the architects who bid on the design project were simple: the building should "convey to the beholder the idea that the building would be an enduring monument worthy of a great and public spirited city."
Easy- peasy...
Shepley Rutan and Coolidge won the bid with a design that continued along the White City's neoclassical path, featuring Greek columns, Roman arches, and not one, but two domes.
Surprise!
Easy- peasy...
Shepley Rutan and Coolidge won the bid with a design that continued along the White City's neoclassical path, featuring Greek columns, Roman arches, and not one, but two domes.
Surprise!
The People's Palace...
Construction was completed and the library opened in October of 1987. In the first week, thousands of citizens ogled its limestone and granite exterior before they passed through its massive doorways. Their necks strained and eyes blinked as they marveled at the amazingly beautiful stained glass domes. Did they feel light of foot as they traipsed up and down its glisteningly white marble stairways and shimmering halls embedded with mother-of-pearl and colored glass mosaics?
Here was, indeed, a place that could transport one from where he or she was... to someplace else... a marvelous place... a palace of learning and culture.
Here was, indeed, a place that could transport one from where he or she was... to someplace else... a marvelous place... a palace of learning and culture.
The Tiffany dome in Preston Bradley Hall (courtesy chicagoarchitecture.org)
No, black and white would not do it justice.
Now, as time passed, while the incredible beauty of the building lingered, the mechanical, electrical and communication systems become obsolete and for awhile, it seemed that building would go the way of the old Chicago Board of Trade and be demolished. Then Mayor Richard the First formed a committee to consider the building's fate. Eleanor Daley, known around town as "Sis," made a comment in public that she thought all the beautiful, old buildings should be saved and restored. Signed, sealed, delivered... the Chicago Public Library soon achieved landmark status in both the National Register of Historic Places and the Chicago Landmarks registry.
Now, as time passed, while the incredible beauty of the building lingered, the mechanical, electrical and communication systems become obsolete and for awhile, it seemed that building would go the way of the old Chicago Board of Trade and be demolished. Then Mayor Richard the First formed a committee to consider the building's fate. Eleanor Daley, known around town as "Sis," made a comment in public that she thought all the beautiful, old buildings should be saved and restored. Signed, sealed, delivered... the Chicago Public Library soon achieved landmark status in both the National Register of Historic Places and the Chicago Landmarks registry.
Preston Bradley Hall
Sanctuary...
I have a personal connection to this hallowed place. When I was a callow young woman, just out of college, my first job was at a large advertising agency which shall remain anonymous. Now shortly into my career as a "Mad Man," ("Mad Woman?"), I came to my senses and realized that the 24/7/365 business of selling things was not for me. (And there was no creative director who looked like Don Draper.) So I quit. But since I was still living at home and my decision to abandon this excellent position to do....what?.... would have been severely frowned on by the parentals, I made no mention of it. Instead, I would get dressed in the morning and ride the bus down to the Loop as usual and hang out... you guessed it, at the library! And conduct my job search... as so many other people have done and continue to do... at their public libraries, places rich in resources for when one faces this type of traumatic life event. Only I got to do so under a sweeping ceiling of mosaics with the names of some of the greatest writers in history. Surrounded by walls inscribed with the deep thoughts of the greatest thinkers... Sanctuary... inspiration... another place, another library that would help me get from where I was to where I wanted to be...
New Life...
After the new Chicago Public Library, named after Mayor Harold Washington, opened in 1991, the city repurposed the old library into the Cultural Center, thanks to the vision of Lois Weisberg, the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The building was renovated and restored and now features an art exhibition space named for Congressman Sidney Yates, who championed the cause and obtained federal funding for improvements, several small theaters and galleries, the previously mentioned Preston Bradley Hall, which features frequent musical performances and the weekly Dame Myra Hess Memorial concerts, as well as the Museum of Broadcast Communications. It's also apparently a hotspot for wedding ceremonies...
If you've never been, you should consider a pilgrimage to the building called The People's Palace. It's a place out of time, when the future was utopian and men subscribed to the notion of City Beautiful and that we should make no "little plans, they have no magic to stir men's blood..."
If you've never been, you should consider a pilgrimage to the building called The People's Palace. It's a place out of time, when the future was utopian and men subscribed to the notion of City Beautiful and that we should make no "little plans, they have no magic to stir men's blood..."
You can read more about the Chicago Cultural Center and plan your visit here.
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