Philadelphia Weekly

Growing panes: The Free Library has decided to hold off on making changes to its central branch, including skylights and windows. (photo by michael persico)

Think of it as the library of the future.

At more than 300 computers, graphic designers work on new projects, musicians record and bloggers and authors write and research, using the quiet of old and the wireless of new. Arching skylights vault over glass walkways, and plate-glass windows open an 8,500-square-foot foyer to light and weather patterns. A Visual and Performing Arts Department lets visitors focus on music instead of books. A Teen Center brings resources to school-aged kids courtesy of tattooed librarians, while the Entrepreneurium offers those who dream of starting a business the tools to make it happen. It's all designed by internationally acclaimed architect Moshe Safdie, and it's called Parkway Central--one of the premiere libraries in the nation.

It's also, for now, a fiction.

The radical expansion of the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia would have given the stately but distinctly out-of-date facility an additional 160,00 square feet--increasing its overall space by 50 percent and vastly improving resources for children, in particular. But in December the plans were quietly stalled, as the commotion around branch libraries increased.

"We didn't want to be insensitive to losing those branches," says Sandy Horrocks, a spokeswoman for the Free Library.

The $175 million Parkway Central project is largely privately supported, so it wasn't put on hold exclusively due to funding woes. It was more about appearances, Horrocks says. Of the addition's estimated costs, roughly $105 million is already in the coffers from public and private fundraising. But contractual obligations from those donations preclude the Free Library from redirecting any of that money toward operating costs.

The project got off the ground in December 2004, when then-Mayor John Street approved a $30 million bond issue to begin the project, estimated to cost $130 million. By 2006, the plan had grown to $150 million. After cost estimates spiraled to $175 million, the project was finally set to break ground in December.

And then the budget crisis came and the library decided to take a step back.

"It was the appropriate choice ... but nothing changes," Horrocks says. "The central library is 82 years old. It needs attention. It is not able to provide library services in the 21st century."

Every one of the city's 54 library branches have been renovated or seen altogether new construction--most recently in 2005 with the Widener branch in the Glenwood neighborhood of North Philadelphia. Every one, that is, except the central branch.

"Excuse my language, but the place is a dump," Horrocks says. "It has not been taken care of. We are not serving our 1 million visitors every year."

This huge expansion, brilliantly designed and heavy on innovation, would change that, library officials say. And a lavish marquee library could come at no better time, it seems, as libraries across the country are seeing increased traffic, often attributed to the down economy. Even before the recession, the central branch was seeing a renaissance in 2007, welcoming the most visitors it had in 60 years.

But Philly-library news is today gloomier. It seems a big, bold addition to one of the gray ladies on the Parkway could be a public relations disaster, so the shovels won't go into the ground until the library meets its budget cuts. And construction is expected to take about 27 months.

If that quandary were to solve itself, the next chance to move those shovels will come when the Free Library board next meets, on March 17--St. Patrick's Day.

"Wouldn't it be nice," Horrocks says, "if we had the green?"

Christopher Wink is a freelance writer from the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia.