Library Receives Update & Addition

Farnsworth Group renovated and expanded the historic Lincoln Carnegie Library, retaining its original charm and character while designing a new addition that blended aesthetically with the 100-year-old structure.

The $28 million program encompassed five facilities including the renovation and expansion of the Lincoln Carnegie Library. The renovation and expansion project includes a 12,000 SF new addition, as well as major renovations and upgrades to the existing 100-year-old facility. The "new" and the "old" are linked by a narrow and delicate sky bridge, which minimizes the disturbance to and modification of the original historic building façade. Renovations encompass all new windows and exterior doors that are historically accurate and appropriate as well as transformation of the main floor space into a large, inviting quiet study room.

The new addition includes:

• expanded areas for both youth and adults, in both the fiction and non-fiction categories;
• several spacious community meeting rooms;
• a hot air balloon themed children’s zone; and
• all-new electrical service to serve cutting-edge lighting, fire alarm, CCTV, telephone/data, and access control systems.

Prior to commencing detailed design, Farnsworth Group provided land surveying and civil engineering services to the Library, in collaboration with the prime consultant, for the appropriate removal and relocation of a large number of unmarked historic burial features discovered at this site. These burial features were located at the rear of the existing library, where the intended addition was to be placed. This process included close coordination with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, the governing organization for such removals and relocations.

The Lincoln Carnegie Library had been designated a local historic landmark in accordance with the City of Peoria Historic Preservation Ordinance. Farnsworth Group provided full historic consulting services to procure a Certificate of Appropriateness from the City’s Historic Preservation Commission for the planned renovations and expansions. This was followed by additional historic consulting services for the placement of the library on the National Register of Historic Places requiring close coordination with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.