Ballard Carnegie Library’s landmark status to be decided next week

The latest effort to designate the Ballard Carnegie Library as a historic landmark will be decided next week by the Seattle Landmark Preservation Board. The meeting, which is open to the public, is on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m. at the Seattle Municipal Tower at 700 5th Avenue, 40th floor, room 4060. The board will be taking comments from the public related to the decision.

From the Ballard Historical Society:

In November 2011, Ballard Historical Society joined forces with architect Larry Johnson to nominate the Ballard Carnegie Library for City of Seattle Landmark status. The Seattle Landmark Preservation Board voted unanimously in support of the Ballard Carnegie Library’s nomination for city landmark status on September 19, 2012. Next Wednesday, November 7, the landmark board meets again to hear from concerned citizens and to give their final ruling on the designation.

The library was built in 1904, before Ballard was annexed into the city of Seattle. According to Historic Seattle’s Preservation Blog, when Ballard officially became part of Seattle in 1907, the library became a branch of the Seattle Public Library system. It operated as a functional library until 1963, when a new library was built at 5711 24th Ave. NW. The Carnegie Library was then sold to a private owner, according to Historic Seattle. The current owner, Karoline Morrison, acquired the building in 1977. Morrison does not support the nomination.