The overview
Council member Abbie Kamin said although the historical library—which was built in 1925—is one of the most widely used libraries in the city, it’s also ranked one of the worst in terms of critical needs as a facility.
“There’s absolutely a challenge when the city is under such serious financial constraints, and we have to spend our dollars wisely,” Kamin said. “But with that comes the need to determine at what point is it costing more to do repair after repair, rather than investing what we need to to keep a cherished historical facility operating and do it the right way.”
A Houston Public Library spokesperson said in a Feb. 13 email that extreme winter events such as the May Derecho and Hurricane Beryl caused a tree branch to hit and puncture the library’s roof, allowing water to enter the facility.
The water traveled to the lowest point in the ceiling, resulting in a light fixture discharging and falling due to the added water weight. Water also molded and damaged plaster on one of the walls. The carpet in the storage area also had to be removed due to water damage, the spokesperson said.
According to the Feb. 12 agenda item, the $79,000 will help fund the replacement of the damaged walls, ceiling materials, light fixtures and saturated carpet to preserve the historic wooden subfloors and prevent mold growth.
HPL officials said that most of the interior repairs such as the walls and ceilings were completed Jan. 18 and Jan. 19. The carpet for the storage area was replaced Jan. 31. However, the spokesperson said there is no determined date for the installation of the light fixture, which is the last step.
