On May 28, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County fulfilled a years-long promise to relocate its cramped Clifton branch storefront to a large Gaslight District house—designed by famed architect Samuel Hannaford and owned by former Cincinnati Mayor George Barnsedale “Boss” Cox.
The home was occupied for 58 years (1949-2007) by the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity who, to their credit, left it and its many historical features blessedly intact. Over more than a year of construction, the library and renovation architecture firm McClorey and Savage doubled down on that preservation by restoring the original painted glass, fireplaces, mirrors, windows, and staircases to their former glory.
Click through our gallery to see the library’s interior and exterior features:
You can also expect some fancy upgrades for this historic building: Look for the additional handicap-accessible exterior entrance annex, radio-frequency identification (RFID) pads (which allow you to check in and check out all your books at once without scanning them), and multiple banks of PC and Mac computers (many installed with Adobe Creative Suite).
Clifton Branch, 3400 Brookline Ave., Clifton, (513) 369-4447, cincinnatilibrary.org
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