Victoria Public Library - Victoria, BC Canada
N 48° 25.567 W 123° 21.736
10U E 473199 N 5363726
There are 125 Carnegie Libraries in Canada, 111 of those are in Ontario. Victoria’s building is one of only 3 built in British Columbia.
Waymark Code: WM2YZR
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 01/13/2008
Views: 129
The Victoria Public Library was built at a cost of $53,000 and a majority of that was a grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. This indirectly caused much public debate. Some felt that an architect’s fee should be avoided by using existing plans from other Carnegie libraries. Others, among them architect Francis Rattenbury, proposed a unique structure, one designed to enhance and fit the surrounding townscape.
Eventually the matter was settled in favour of an original design. The design of the building was the work of noted Victoria architects, Thomas Hooper and C. Elwood Watkins. The result is this somewhat Romanesque building featuring a classical portico over the entrance and heavy stonework. The exterior of the building is composed of alternating bands of rusticated (Rough surface) and ashlar-finished (Smooth Surface) Saturna Island sandstone resting on a granite base. Much of the ornamental carving has been preserved on the main entrance and around the sides of the building.
The building was finished in 1905 but the Victoria Library did not move in until January 1906. An addition was added to the rear of the building some time in the early 1960s to accommodate the need for more space to serve the growing population of Victoria. This served as the Central Library until it was moved to a new 45,000 sq ft building on Broughton Street. It was then occupied by a Credit union and they won an award in 1984 from Heritage Canada for their work in preserving the building. The Library is now empty and looking for the next tenant.