The historic ca. 1930s Central Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore City reopened last weekend after undergoing a $115 million dollar building renovation and technology upgrade project.
Preservation Maryland and partners on a hard hat tour of the Pratt Library, June 2018.
The project was completed under the supervision of the Maryland State Department of General Services, with funding from the State of Maryland, City of Baltimore and private donors to the Enoch Pratt Renovation campaign. The renovation was designed by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects of New York and managed by Ayers/Saint/Gross with Gilbane Development Company as the general contractor.
In addition to the tremendous scale of the renovation and the difficulty of modernizing the historic and highly-decorative 30,000 square foot structure, the project team designed the project in phases that allowed the Pratt Library to remain open much of the project and to carry on its mission as a resource serving all Marylanders.
The public grand reopening was held on Saturday, September 14, 2019 and was attended by U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, Maryland State Senator William C. “Bill” Ferguson IV, Maryland State Senator Mary Washington, Maryland State Delegate Brooke Lierman, former U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, Baltimore Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young, among others and over 1,000 citizens.