CHARLOTTE — Charlotte’s Uptown library is getting a new beginning.
In a few years, it’ll become a state-of-the-art library and community space. But that can’t happen without demolition, which began on Tuesday.
A beam inside the man library was filled with hundreds of signatures Tuesday to commemorate what once was and what’s to come.
“I didn’t know that there was a main library outside of the children’s library,” Tirzah Griffith told Channel 9′s Almiya White.
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That’s because for the last year and a half, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s Main Library was closed to the public. But Griffith learned that won’t be the case much longer.
“A celebration for us because it’s the first publicly expressed kickoff for the new Main Library,” said CEO Marcellus Turner.
Turner and his team began Tuesday to demolish the old Main Library, which has served the community since 1903.
“We’ve had iterations and changes to it and a complete reconstruction,” Turner said. “But this is a building that has been in that spot.”
Now, the plan is to rebuild the library with a new look and its original address.
“We’re going to return to our Tryon address,” Turner said. “And so we’re going to move the entrance of the library back to Tryon as opposed to Sixth Street.”
Beyond the books that will fill the shelves, Turner said the public will have free access to technology.
“A 360 panoramic rotation of screens of technology so that you can look at data,” he explained.
You will also find spaces to host events, which Griffith said is beneficial for professionals.
“I think it’s something important for maybe entrepreneurs to startup businesses, and feel like they have a space to get their message out,” she said.
“I know that people think that libraries are the same, but we grow, we adapt, and this is what is needed here,” Turner said.
Construction will begin this winter and the library is projected to open in the spring of 2026.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library received several donations from the county, Leon Levine Foundation, Bank of America, Novant and many other companies. The new Main Library is also a part of a major redevelopment project at the intersection of Seventh and Tryon streets.
(WATCH PREVIOUS: Leon Levine Foundation donates $1M to Charlotte’s new Main Library)
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