![]() The historic main Santa Fe Public Library, located at 145 Washington Avenue, could soon see upgrade and renovation work. The library leadership is expected to coordinate with both historians and architects to evaluate the building and its current structural needs. The 30,200 square foot building is valued for its wooden ceiling of boards, as well as carved vigas and crossbeams, among other features. Designed by southwestern architect John Gaw Meem in a Spanish-Pueblo style, the structure was built as a Public Works Administration project at a cost of around $170,000 in 1939. It originally served as the Santa Fe County Courthouse. Upon the building’s completion, the Santa Fe New Mexican made note of its “long, covered portal along its first story length,” with a second floor arising above the first “in ‘pueblo’ style.” Originally called the Berardinelli Building, in honor of municipal judge Joseph Berardinelli, the structure was repurposed at a cost of $3.8 million as the home to the Santa Fe Library in 1987. In his 2012 book Ageless Adobe, author Jerome Iowa said the building “achieves an astonishing unity” housed in a “single handsomely-scaled two-story block with projecting side wings (a classic Palladian piece frequently employed by Meem.” Because the library is within he boundaries of the official Santa Fe Historical District, any changes to the building would have to first be approved by the city’s Historic District Review Board. By Garry Boulard
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