A nearly 120 year-old structure in downtown Fort Collins will be undergoing a facility upgrade and renovation thanks to a newly announced $2.4 million grant.
Located at 200 Matthews Street in downtown Fort Collins, the Carnegie Center for Creativity was originally built as a library and was one of more than 2,500 such institutions whose construction was funded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie during the early part of the last century.
All the surviving Carnegie buildings are regarded as architectural treasures, with design styles running the gamut from Baroque to Italian Renaissance and Beaux-Arts.
Owned by the City of Fort Collins, the Carnegie library saw the addition of an annex built by the Works Progress Administration in 1939. The structure was subsequently repurposed first as a museum and finally as the Carnegie Center for Creativity, providing gallery space and art classes.
A Community Revitalization Grant just awarded through Colorado’s Office of Economic Development & International Trade, will help fund new work on the building.
By Garry Boulard
