PUEBLO, Colo. – Pueblo’s main library, Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library, will be getting major renovations both inside and outside. On Tuesday, April 27, the administration of Pueblo City-County Library District announced the launch of a $2.5 million capital campaign in support of renovations to the Rawlings Library located at 100 E. Abriendo Ave.
“The Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library stands as a majestic facility in central Pueblo dedicated to lifelong learning and literacy. This bustling library has hosted more than eight-million visitors since it first opened to the public in 2003. This library is well used and a project currently is underway to refresh the 110,000 square-foot facility so it is ready to meet the demands of a busy future,” stated Jon Walker, the library district’s executive director.
Overall cost of the renovations is more than $11.5 million; the price tag includes design, construction, furniture, fixtures and equipment. Renovations will primarily focus on refurbishing the interior of the five-floor public building along with exterior site will include an outdoor amphitheater and expanded parking. Currently, more than $10 million has been raised through a combination of public and private funding.
Construction is scheduled to begin in August and wrap-up in July 2022. Denver-based firm Anderson Mason Dale Architects is in charge of redesigning the interior and exterior. The firm worked with internationally-renowned architect Antoine Predock to design the building more than 20 years ago. For the upcoming renovation, AMD is collaborating with HBM Architects of Cleveland, Ohio, a firm that produces state-of-the-art public libraries across the U.S. Construction will be managed by Pueblo’s H. W. Houston Construction.
The $2.5 million Your Future Library Capital Campaign will include naming opportunities for donors wishing to support the project on a more personal level. Donors will have the opportunity to support a variety of select public spaces throughout the 11,000 square-foot library. Options range from $5,000 for a study room, $25,000 for a meeting room and up to $100,000 for the grand event space located on the fourth floor.
Additionally, a three-to-one matching grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will provide PCCLD an additional $500,000 toward renovation of the Special Collections and archive vault should $1.5 million be raised. PCCLD was awarded the grant in 2019 to specifically benefit the department, which houses items of historical significance to Pueblo and Southern Colorado.
“This update to the Rawlings Library is important for our community. It represents Pueblo’s ongoing commitment to the vital American values of free and open access for everyone in support of reading, knowledge, and information. The project is practical, too. Citizens from all walks of life and all ages will have access for years to come to a beautiful and comfortable place to gather together to study and learn. The importance of this is perhaps best put in these words attributed to Thomas Jefferson: ‘An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people,’” Walker continued.
Since it opened to the public in 2003, more than 14-million books and other materials have been checked out from Rawlings Library during its nearly two decades of use by the Pueblo community.
For more information about the upcoming renovations and to contribute to the campaign please go to: www.pueblolibrary.org/yourfuturelibrary
Watch the announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxjuZsC5yxY
“The Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library stands as a majestic facility in central Pueblo dedicated to lifelong learning and literacy. This bustling library has hosted more than eight-million visitors since it first opened to the public in 2003. This library is well used and a project currently is underway to refresh the 110,000 square-foot facility so it is ready to meet the demands of a busy future,” stated Jon Walker, the library district’s executive director.
Overall cost of the renovations is more than $11.5 million; the price tag includes design, construction, furniture, fixtures and equipment. Renovations will primarily focus on refurbishing the interior of the five-floor public building along with exterior site will include an outdoor amphitheater and expanded parking. Currently, more than $10 million has been raised through a combination of public and private funding.
Construction is scheduled to begin in August and wrap-up in July 2022. Denver-based firm Anderson Mason Dale Architects is in charge of redesigning the interior and exterior. The firm worked with internationally-renowned architect Antoine Predock to design the building more than 20 years ago. For the upcoming renovation, AMD is collaborating with HBM Architects of Cleveland, Ohio, a firm that produces state-of-the-art public libraries across the U.S. Construction will be managed by Pueblo’s H. W. Houston Construction.
The $2.5 million Your Future Library Capital Campaign will include naming opportunities for donors wishing to support the project on a more personal level. Donors will have the opportunity to support a variety of select public spaces throughout the 11,000 square-foot library. Options range from $5,000 for a study room, $25,000 for a meeting room and up to $100,000 for the grand event space located on the fourth floor.
Additionally, a three-to-one matching grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will provide PCCLD an additional $500,000 toward renovation of the Special Collections and archive vault should $1.5 million be raised. PCCLD was awarded the grant in 2019 to specifically benefit the department, which houses items of historical significance to Pueblo and Southern Colorado.
“This update to the Rawlings Library is important for our community. It represents Pueblo’s ongoing commitment to the vital American values of free and open access for everyone in support of reading, knowledge, and information. The project is practical, too. Citizens from all walks of life and all ages will have access for years to come to a beautiful and comfortable place to gather together to study and learn. The importance of this is perhaps best put in these words attributed to Thomas Jefferson: ‘An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people,’” Walker continued.
Since it opened to the public in 2003, more than 14-million books and other materials have been checked out from Rawlings Library during its nearly two decades of use by the Pueblo community.
For more information about the upcoming renovations and to contribute to the campaign please go to: www.pueblolibrary.org/yourfuturelibrary
Watch the announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxjuZsC5yxY