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| Niagara Falls Carnegie Library |
There are a few blocks in downtown Niagara Falls that are scary enough to make you check to see if your car doors are locked even if you’re not planning to stop. The streets are lined with boarded storefronts, abandoned houses and weed strewn lots.
Groups of kids (big, scary looking kids) hang out on street corners near burned out buildings and signs for the Dollar Store and Check Cashing abound. It’s not my favorite place to visit but when I discovered that a century old Carnegie Library still stood on the corner of Main Street and Ashland, I started my ignition.
The perfectly symmetrical neo-classical building stuck out like a rose among the poison ivy. Towering columns in the ornate facade bordered the glass paneled front doors and window. I parked at the curb and climbed the steps to gaze up at the words “Public Library”, carved into the marble above the door and when I turned back I was assaulted by the garish red awning of the Chinese Buffet and Lounge.
A hand painted sign, hammered into the grass on the front lawn, had Carnegie’s picture and a very brief history of his library philanthropy in America. Although the sign said the building had been renovated in 1995 it was hard to tell by the stained yellow stone exterior. Although the outside seemed a little down on its luck, I was thrilled that the building had been saved from the wrecking ball that swings so freely in many of our upstate cities. The library had been re-purposed as the Community Development and Leased Housing Department of Niagara Falls and, even better, the front doors were wide open.
Stepping over the threshold on that warm summer day was like travelling back in time to 1902, the year the library opened. What I saw on the inside the building literally took my breath away. The foyer and two flanking rooms had huge, intricate stained glass skylights set into carved cove ceilings. Each skylight was made of 16 individual panes of glass that filtered the sunlight as it poured onto the marble steps beneath my feet. People moved around me and into the building, oblivious to its beauty, while I stood, rooted in my spot, head tilted back and mouth open, gazing at the ornate ceiling.
Ready for more, I pushed through the next set of doors to find a waiting room that was obviously the spot of the original circulation desk. Above the desk, carved into the wall were large gold letters that read “Erected by Andrew Carnegie”. The walls throughout were covered in ornate plaster work that wound its way up to the crowing skylights..
A woman came out from the partitions to see if she could help me with my lease and was thrilled that I was there to admire the building. She showed me some old photographs that had been enlarged and were hanging from the cheesy maroon office cubicles.
The perfectly symmetrical neo-classical building stuck out like a rose among the poison ivy. Towering columns in the ornate facade bordered the glass paneled front doors and window. I parked at the curb and climbed the steps to gaze up at the words “Public Library”, carved into the marble above the door and when I turned back I was assaulted by the garish red awning of the Chinese Buffet and Lounge.
A hand painted sign, hammered into the grass on the front lawn, had Carnegie’s picture and a very brief history of his library philanthropy in America. Although the sign said the building had been renovated in 1995 it was hard to tell by the stained yellow stone exterior. Although the outside seemed a little down on its luck, I was thrilled that the building had been saved from the wrecking ball that swings so freely in many of our upstate cities. The library had been re-purposed as the Community Development and Leased Housing Department of Niagara Falls and, even better, the front doors were wide open.
Stepping over the threshold on that warm summer day was like travelling back in time to 1902, the year the library opened. What I saw on the inside the building literally took my breath away. The foyer and two flanking rooms had huge, intricate stained glass skylights set into carved cove ceilings. Each skylight was made of 16 individual panes of glass that filtered the sunlight as it poured onto the marble steps beneath my feet. People moved around me and into the building, oblivious to its beauty, while I stood, rooted in my spot, head tilted back and mouth open, gazing at the ornate ceiling.
Ready for more, I pushed through the next set of doors to find a waiting room that was obviously the spot of the original circulation desk. Above the desk, carved into the wall were large gold letters that read “Erected by Andrew Carnegie”. The walls throughout were covered in ornate plaster work that wound its way up to the crowing skylights..
A woman came out from the partitions to see if she could help me with my lease and was thrilled that I was there to admire the building. She showed me some old photographs that had been enlarged and were hanging from the cheesy maroon office cubicles.
In the pictures I could see that the original center room was once an elegant foyer, perfectly balanced and proportioned. The back wall of the library was actually hexagonal and the original second floor balcony was enclosed by a wrought iron railing. The book stacks on the second floor fanned out evenly across a glass block floor like identical segments in an orange.
I peered into the “offices” on either side of the entry. Built in bookshelves lined the walls and were capped with ornamental plaster work. Although the cubicles and office equipment was jarring it wasn’t enough to prevent imagining the original beauty of the space.
In the lobby I met a women who told me that she remembered when the building used to be the library. She said she came in with her sister just to look around at all the pretty stuff and sit at the big tables.
I peered into the “offices” on either side of the entry. Built in bookshelves lined the walls and were capped with ornamental plaster work. Although the cubicles and office equipment was jarring it wasn’t enough to prevent imagining the original beauty of the space.
In the lobby I met a women who told me that she remembered when the building used to be the library. She said she came in with her sister just to look around at all the pretty stuff and sit at the big tables.
Even 100 years later, somewhat diminished by the office conversion and neglect, the building inspired wonder and awe. Its dignity and meticulous construction reminded me, and all those who had passed through its doors during its 70 years as a library, that this was a special place, where amazing personal transformations could be made. It was a place to be honored and valued because it offered a chance to learn about anything and become anyone...it was a library.
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