Carnegie being readied for its next chapter


SNOHOMISH — Tuesday, Feb. 18 was demolition day for the squared-off appendage to Snohomish’s oldest public building. During the demoltion, the front entrance way to the annex pulled away from the original 1910 Carnegie building and fell to the ground as an excavator gave it a push from behind.
Getting this far came after three years of debate on whether to keep the 1968 annex, but on a cold and foggy morning it took the excavator operator just a mere hour to make it a pile of rubble.
The brick masonry crashed in chunks while city leaders and members of the Carnegie Foundation watched. Mayor John Kartak dived in midway through to try to rescue the metal book drop chute.
The work might be complete in September. The goal is to restore the 1910 Carnegie Building to its original facade. It’s a $2 million job overall.
A park will go where the 10,000 square foot annex stood.
And after 15 or so years contemplating various master plans for the former city library at 105 Cedar Ave., caretakers and city leaders today envision resurrecting it as a public events venue.
An addition will be built onto the back of the building.
Some onlookers watched from a birds-eye vantage point from apartments across the road.
The original 1910 building will receive new carpentry, flooring, insulation and heating and cooling systems as part of the work, plus it will gain a lift to provide ADA access to both levels.
The upper level could accommodate approximately 120 people.
State grants worth $1 million are helping cover the project’s cost.
Seismic retrofitting was completed as a separate, grant-funded project in 2013.
— With reporting by Doug Ramsay