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Updated 46 minutes ago
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is planning to demolish its smallest branch in Carrick this year and replace it with a new, larger library.
Pittsburgh City Council is scheduled on Tuesday to introduce legislation that would approve the sale of the city-owned library building on Brownsville Road to the library system for $1. The library has purchased the neighboring Lauterbach Dental Lab to make room for the expanded library building.
Library spokeswoman Suzanne Thinnes said work is expected to start with razing both buildings this summer and last for about one year. The estimated project cost is $3.9 million.
“Actually when it’s all said and done it’s going to create about 4,000 additional feet of usable space, double the size of the current location,” she said. “This will allow us to bring in more resources for the community.”
Some neighborhood residents, who objected to the original plans, are happy with the additional space, said Carol Anthony of Overbrook, a board member of the Overbrook and Carrick Community Councils.
“The one we have was not sufficient for the needs of the neighborhood,” she said. “It’s much too small.”
She said the library originally planned to add a second story, but an elevator and emergency exit would have taken up most of the added space. Residents, she said, wanted more room, particularly for public meetings.
The new library will have additional meeting space, plus designated areas for teenagers and children. Plans call for an energy efficient building with maximum use of natural lighting and onsite disposal of rainwater runoff.
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has completed major renovations to most of its 19 branch libraries. The system raised more than $50 million from private and public sources to help pay for the upgrades.
In 2016, it completed a $2 million, yearlong renovation of the Knoxville branch on Brownsville Road about a mile away from the Carrick location.
Carrick and Mt. Washington branches are the last to be addressed, Thinnes said. She said the library soon will begin planning for Mt. Washington.
Joe Lauterbach, owner of the dental lab, said his business which makes dentures, bridges, crowns and implants for dental offices, moved to a location on Brownsville Road in nearby Brentwood.
The library system paid $275,000 for the building, according to Allegheny County real estate records.
Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312 or bbauder@tribweb.com.
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