After two years of construction, the Hampden Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library reopens today at 3641 Falls Road.
The library closed on May 18, 2019 for renovations, which cost $2.9 million. The work included digging out the basement to create a new meeting room and office space, doubling the building’s footprint. Other improvements include updated restrooms and a wheelchair ramp in the front.
Photos posted by the Pratt on social media show the upper level has new paint, carpeting, lights, bookshelves and other furniture, including a new circulation desk. Manns Woodward Studios of White Marsh was the architect and Trionfo Builders Inc. was the contractor.
The branch first opened to the public on July 2, 1900 to serve residents of Hampden, Medfield and Remington and was the seventh branch in the Pratt system. The iron columns at the front of the building were made by the Poole and Hunt Foundry in Woodberry. The founder of Poole and Hunt, Hampden resident Robert Poole, also funded the construction of the building and is acknowledged in a plaque inside the library.
The Pratt is planning a daylong Grand Reopening celebration on July 12, starting at 10 a.m.
Hooray! Each and every one of the Pratt’s little neighborhood libraries has a personality all their own. I also like the Govans branch.