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Central Library At 500 McKinney St.


The Great Hizzy!

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I don't know if any of you have ever been in our downtown library, but it is absolutely abhorred. It is dirty, ugly, and is more of a "free daycare" than an educational institution. The article says that it will be close until 2007 and spending like 14 mill., so that sounds to me that they will be really fixing the place up.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...tml?jst=b_ln_hl

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Not really, I don't go to the librabry.........onnly time I do is to use an internet terminal. Other than that I go to a Barnes an Noble to read books.

I guess its a good thing you're not the sole voice of the 2.1 million taxpayers who fund the library then.

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This has been in the works for a couple of years now. I know that in late 2004 and early 2005 they had some renderings in the main lobby area on the ground floor of what the interior will look like when completed. It looked really nice, although one thing I didn't like was the replacement of the current escalators with stairs. I'm not sure if that's still the plan or not though.

While I like the library building, the interior really needs refurbishment. The carpets are worn all the way through to the concrete below in places, and the furniture is in desperate need of replacement. But this is not just a cosmetic renovation. Structural changes to the building's floorplan are going to greatly increase the amount of public space in the facility. I believe they are also installing a wi-fi network throughout the building, and reworking all of the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical systems as well. The plaza in front of the library is also going to be rebuilt.

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Well.

I've heard this renovation has been in the works for a long time. I've heard since 1998. I also heard they were going to get the ball rolling in 2004. There's been some delays and proposal changes. But now, they got the okay, to go on with this project.

They're going to get rid of the escalators, and replace it with stairs. I know that can't go over well with us "fat houstonians." Those escalators suck. Sometimes, if you're riding on it, they stop all of a sudden. They're going to replace the two old elevators and add a third elevator in in the middle area.

They're going to be repaving the plaza area. When it rains, water leaks below into some offices. Yup, under that plaza, there are offices in there.

That red looking sculpture called Geometric mouse or whatever. That's going to be moved to in front of the Julia Ideson building.

They target opening day for the building will be at the end of 2007.

The Julia Ideson building will still be opened though.

I don't know if any of you have ever been in our downtown library, but it is absolutely abhorred. It is dirty, ugly, and is more of a "free daycare" than an educational institution. The article says that it will be close until 2007 and spending like 14 mill., so that sounds to me that they will be really fixing the place up.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...tml?jst=b_ln_hl

Man, that is soooo true. The place isn't nice. I think this is the first major renovation in the buildings history. The carpet sucks. It's just a thin layer. I wouldn't go as far as calling the library an educational system.

This has been in the works for a couple of years now. I know that in late 2004 and early 2005 they had some renderings in the main lobby area on the ground floor of what the interior will look like when completed. It looked really nice, although one thing I didn't like was the replacement of the current escalators with stairs. I'm not sure if that's still the plan or not though.

While I like the library building, the interior really needs refurbishment. The carpets are worn all the way through to the concrete below in places, and the furniture is in desperate need of replacement. But this is not just a cosmetic renovation. Structural changes to the building's floorplan are going to greatly increase the amount of public space in the facility. I believe they are also installing a wi-fi network throughout the building, and reworking all of the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical systems as well. The plaza in front of the library is also going to be rebuilt.

Yeah, they're killing the escalators for the stairs, which I am in favor of. I just hope this doesn't mean more people will use the elevators. There is actually alreaday a wi-fi network there. It's located on the second floor in the business section of the library.

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They're going to get rid of the escalators, and replace it with stairs. I know that can't go over well with us "fat houstonians." Those escalators suck. Sometimes, if you're riding on it, they stop all of a sudden. They're going to replace the two old elevators and add a third elevator in in the middle area.

That red looking sculpture called Geometric mouse or whatever. That's going to be moved to in front of the Julia Ideson building.

They target opening day for the building will be at the end of 2007.

I say keep and just refurbish the escalators. They'll be originals and considered classics one day.

And Mickey Mouse; hopefully moving to the Ideson is only temporary as it would clash horribly with the beauty of that 1926 building. It needs to go back in front once renovation is complete as it's very '70s.

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Will microfilm/microfiche records be available during reconstruction? Where will they be housed?

I could look into that.

I say keep and just refurbish the escalators. They'll be originals and considered classics one day.

And Mickey Mouse; hopefully moving to the Ideson is only temporary as it would clash horribly with the beauty of that 1926 building. It needs to go back in front once renovation is complete as it's very '70s.

Escalators are gone for sure. The new staircase will be "a grand staircase."

and Geometric Mouse is staying in front of the Ideson building permanently.

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I am glad to see the upgrade. All in all I think the Houston Library is a joke. It serves more as a homeless shelter than a library. Especially when compared to others like the Boston Library of New York library. After all Houston is the 4th largest city in the USA. evern Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have better libraries.

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The library boasts a high volume count and calls itself "world class," but statistics like that are misleading. In terms of the depth of serious reading you can do there, it is roughly the equivalent of a good high school library. Someone should take the Modern Library's poll of the 100 best fiction and 100 best nonfiction books of the twentieth century and see how many show up in a card catalog search. I bet only a small portion, and the ones they do have are probably scattered all around the branch libraries.

At some point very early on, somebody in the library decided that building a serious collection of volumes was not a priority. I'm not sure where the money goes - probably technology and interactive crap. Luckily the Fondren library at Rice is open to non-students, so that is usually where I go if I am looking for a book in Houston.

I once saw a website that overviewed the serious libraries in the United States, and the only two in Texas were located in Austin and in College Station. It's sad - Houston is probably the largest city in America without a great research library.

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  • 4 weeks later...

holy crap, do we have to bash every single good thing that happens to this city, yeah smart one its the same building, and mybe if you read the article you'd see why its not a brand new building, maybe thats why its called a RENOVATION, and it looks good, bettwr than before, looks more unique

man a lot of things are gonna be done by late 2007, Pavilions, the new downtown park, and our library, downtowns gonna be nice

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

I guess I could give an update...

The escalators are done. They've been removed for a month or so now. I think on the second floor is where they have done the most work. They moved the book shelves that were on the second floor to the third and first floor.

They're currently working on the sixth floor also, I think. That's where IT used to be housed, and other old crap.

yeah :mellow:

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  • 1 year later...

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