Kingston City Library
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Kingston City Library | |
 North elevation, 2008 | |
| Location | Kingston, NY |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°55′34″N 73°59′45″W / 41.92611°N 73.99583°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1903[1] |
| Architect | Raymond Almirall[1] |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 95001404[2] |
| Added to NRHP | December 7, 1995 |
The former Kingston City Library building is located on Broadway in the center of Kingston, New York, United States. It is a brick Carnegie library built in 1903 in the Classical Revival architectural style.
It served continuously as the city's library until 1974, when it was closed after a newer library was built in the city's Stockade District. Since then it has been the property of the Kingston City School District, which has used it as the offices for the janitorial department at neighboring Kingston High School. In 1995 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Starting in 2009, the library was renovated into an arts and technology center. On September 12, 2011, it was officially reopened as the Carnegie Learning Center used by Kingston High School and the community.[3]
The library building sits on a 11,250-square-foot (1,045 m2) lot on the south side of Broadway, slightly raised from street level. Kingston Hospital is across the street, as is City Hall. Just to the east is Kingston High School.
It is a one-and-a-half-story rectangular building of brown brick on a rough-cut bluestone foundation. A limestone pedimented entry portal is located in the middle of the front. It is heavily decorated with classical motifs. Two ionic columns frame the recessed entrance. On the pediment itself is a book-and-flower frieze. Limestone bands also go around the building at both the lower end of the brick and the top level of the fenestration.[1]
Both interior floors are 2,700 square feet (250 m2). The lower floor has what was once a lecture hall with raised dais, two study rooms, two bathrooms and a boiler room. A staircase with a Craftsman-style bannister leads up to the main floor, where there are remnants of a cast iron mezzanine for book stacks. Leaded pane glass partitions divide the rooms. Two fireplace surrounds remain at either end.[1]
