Wednesday, as a part of Brainerd History Week, citizens got the opportunity to check out a local building on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Carnegie Building, at 206 North Seventh St., was completed in 1904 and served as the Brainerd Public Library until 1986, when the library moved to its current building on South Fifth Street.
The building currently houses the Retirement Learning Center and the business opened its doors to the public for a few hours Wednesday afternoon. People were welcome to come by and take a self-guided tour through the old building. Information on the building's history was also available.
According to that information, in 1901, Henry Cohen wrote to Andrew Carnegie on behalf of the Brainerd Public Library Association to ask for a donation to build a library. Carnegie replied in 1902 that he would provide $12,000 for a new building if the city provided a site and contributed no less than $1,200 annually for maintenance. The building was completed in 1904.
Ralph Church, a Minneapolis architect who designed Carnegie libraries in Anoka, Litchfield, St. Peter and Worthington, designed the Carnegie Building in Brainerd. The building is built of brick and granite in a one-story Classical Revival style with a raised basement. The front of the building features a portico with four Ionic columns supporting a pedimented gable. The building's most notable feature, its dome projecting from the flat roof, made it the only domed roof in Brainerd.
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The library building on South Fifth Street was designed by architect Jeff Behr. The library is celebrating its 30th anniversary in the building with an open house on June 24 hosted by the Friends of the Brainerd Public Library.
SPENSER BICKETT may be reached at 218-855-5859 or spenser.bickett@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/spenserbickett .
