PORT ANGELES — The Carnegie Library building, an 85-year-old fixture of Lincoln Street, will finally reopen to the public at the end of this month.
The Clallam County Historical Society and a private design firm are adding the final touches to the Clallam County Museum inside the refurbished brick building in time for a gala and dedication Oct. 29-30.
The society will host the preview tour of the museum the evening of Oct. 29, and the public is invited to the official dedication and ribbon-cutting with U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, and Strait Men’s Chorus on Oct. 30 at noon.
Finally near completion
“To finally have it all come to fruition, it’s almost unbelievable,” historical society Executive Director Kathy Monds said as she walked through the revamped building.
The two-story, 4,000-square-foot earthquake-protected structure was one of more than 2,000 Carnegie Free Libraries worldwide.
During the past two years, it has undergone $1.2 million in refurbishing by the city and historical society to restore the 1919 building to its original look.
A boxy annex built in the 1960s to expand space for the public library was removed from the front of the building to reveal the Carnegie’s original brick facade — something Monds said many people didn’t realize existed.
Through the front door and up a half-flight of stairs — in what used to house the city library’s children’s section — the second story’s wooden floors have been refinished and the many arched windows have been restored.
The floor is one large room, flanked at either end by brick fireplaces and topped with high, spacious ceilings.
