On May 20, 2020, DC Public Library officials held the final design meeting for the Lamond-Riggs Library, which will be completely rebuilt at 5401 South Dakota Avenue NE. HGA and Consigli are the design/build team. View the presentation here.

The design seeks to highlight some of the things residents said they wanted in a new library, such as lots of natural light, quiet spaces, having a place to highlight local history, and having a “wow” factor inside and outside. As noted in this post, the final design incorporates feedback from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. They have added more trees and a canopy for more shade for the outdoor seating areas, simplified the material and color palette, and extended the building facade further along South Dakota Avenue by reconfiguring the parking lot. To be code compliant, they will remove the curb cut closest to the South Dakota Avenue/Kennedy Street NE intersection resulting in just one vehicular entrance and exit to the site. The one commission recomendation the design team pushed back on was retention of what the design team referred to as the heritage tree. The commission questioned the need for retaining the tree given its health and placement on the site close to the corner of Jefferson Street. The design team felt it was important to retain the tree because it informs much of the design concept. So the tree will remain.

The project remains fully funded. The next steps are for the library to move the furniture and collections out of the existing location, conduct hazardous material abatement, disconnect utilities, and apply for a raze permit. From there, construction should move full steam ahead with completion expected late 2021. As noted many times by many people, this will be one of a few large active construction projects in the immediate vicinity over the next one to two years. DCPL officials and the construction team stated they will follow DDOT construction guidelines and convey road and sidewalk closures in advance to the community.

An interim library has been established at one of the retail locations at the Modern at Art Place at 395 Ingraham Street NE, just off South Dakota Avenue. Due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, all DC library facilities remain closed to the public. When facilities are permitted to open, the interim library will open with appropriate public health guidelines in place.

The project website is dclibrary.org/newlamondriggs. Questions and comments may be sent to martha.saccocio@dc.gov.

So long to the old library.