Story of the Central Library
The modern history of Vancouver began in 1867, when the area's first sawmill—the Hastings Mill—was built.
In January 1869, the manager of the Hastings Mill, J.A. Raymur, established a meeting room and library for mill employees, subsequently named the Hastings Literary Institute, in honour of Rear Admiral the Honourable George Fowler Hastings.
Following the Great Fire of Vancouver in 1886, 400 books from the now-defunct Hastings Literary Institute were donated to the newly-established Vancouver Reading Room.
In 1887, the Reading Room opened at 144 West Cordova Street. In 1894, the Free Reading Room and Library moved to a larger (46 ft2) room in the new Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) Building at 151 West Hastings Street.
In 1901 the City of Vancouver came to an agreement with the American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to fund a new library to replace the space in the YMCA building. Carnegie provided a donation of $50,000 and the City agreed to supply a site and provide annual support for the library.
A site for the new library was chosen at the corner of Hastings and Westminster (now Main). The architect for the project was George William Grant. The corner stone for the library was laid on March 29, 1902 and the doors opened to the public in October 1903. The Vancouver Public Library continued to occupy the Hastings and Main site until the opening of the new central library at 750 Burrard Street in 1957.
In 1945, the electors of Vancouver voted to establish a new central library and three branches. In 1952, the City purchased the property at 750 Burrard, and the official opening was held on November 1, 1957. The library remained at the Burrard building until April 22, 1995, when it closed in preparation for the move to a new location at Library Square (350 West Georgia Street).
Library Square
Over the years the Central Library at 750 Burrard Street had become increasingly outdated and overcrowded. In November 1990, Vancouver voters endorsed capital funds for a new central library. The City then bought the site at 350 West Georgia Street from the federal government. The provincial government agreed to a twenty-year lease of two floors in the proposed new building, with the expectation that the library would then acquire the space.
The City held an architectural design contest, which was won by a proposal from architects Moshe Safdie, Richard Archambault and Barry Downs. The Coliseum inspired design was the most unconventional, but it was the public favourite. The Library Square building project was the largest capital project ever undertaken by the City of Vancouver at the time, at an approximate cost of $107 million. The ground-breaking ceremony took place on February 1, 1993, and Library Square was officially opened on May 26, 1995.
The Library Square building occupies an entire city block of downtown Vancouver, and the building exterior is covered in granite quarried in Horsefly, BC. It was built to the highest seismic standards of the time. While the proposed design included a rooftop garden, this was not a feature of the final build which instead featured a sustainable green roof, designed by renowned landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander.
A time capsule was created in 2010 as part of the library’s One Book, One Vancouver program and buried as part of the Central Library’s Sweet Sixteen celebration in 2011, between levels two and three, with the intent that it will be opened on the library’s 45th anniversary in 2040.
Central Library / Library Square Expansion
Over twenty years later, the Central Library building remains iconic to the city, and is a draw for local residents, workers and visitors alike, often voted as a favourite civic building.
As the lease came due on the upper two floors (levels 8 and 9), the library undertook planning to transform the area and offer much needed community spaces. Rather than featuring traditional collections, the expansion provides meeting rooms, a glass enclosed reading room, an 80 seat theatre, an exhibition space, as well as a long awaited public rooftop garden and outdoor terraces.
The expansion encompasses almost 4,000 square metres (42,000 ft2) of new interior space on levels 8 and 9, as well as additional 1,560 square metres (approximately 16,800 ft2) of outdoor space between the north and south terraces on level 8 and the rooftop garden on level 9. In total, the building area is approximately 34,400 square metres (370,000 ft2).
Construction on the expanded upper floors began in June 2017. The original architects (Moshe Safdie & Associates with local partners DA Architects) were retained to design the new expansion. Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, the landscape architect responsible for the green roof, was also retained to design the long-awaited rooftop garden.
Key components of the construction project included:
- Removing sections of the roof
- Opening up the floor between levels 7 and 8, and connecting them with a new escalator
- Creating a public garden on level 9
The renovation targets LEED Commercial Interiors certification. The green rooftop remains, and solar panels have been installed as an educational feature.