DC library damage $15-20m but historical items escaped burn
Rebuilding the fire-ravaged Georgetown public library could cost between $15 million and $20 million, a sum that D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty yesterday committed to allocating without delay so that the doors can reopen "as quickly as possible."
Fenty (D) has drafted emergency legislation to direct all excess revenue in fiscal 2007 and 2008 toward the library and historic Eastern Market, which also was hit by a three-alarm blaze Monday. One city official estimated yesterday that as much as $80 million could be made available...
As officials continued to assess damage to the library -- taking stock of the branch's contents as well as to the Georgian-style building -- they had good news about the Peabody Collection that documents Georgetown's past through extensive records, maps, photos, books and clippings.
Perhaps 80 percent of the collection, housed on the library's east side, suffered far less harm than initially feared. The ceiling there held, and the archives escaped smoke and flames.
"The material is wet but not burned," Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian for the city, said against the backdrop of a charred and partially collapsed second-floor roofline. "We can deal with wet."
Read entire article at Washington Post
Fenty (D) has drafted emergency legislation to direct all excess revenue in fiscal 2007 and 2008 toward the library and historic Eastern Market, which also was hit by a three-alarm blaze Monday. One city official estimated yesterday that as much as $80 million could be made available...
As officials continued to assess damage to the library -- taking stock of the branch's contents as well as to the Georgian-style building -- they had good news about the Peabody Collection that documents Georgetown's past through extensive records, maps, photos, books and clippings.
Perhaps 80 percent of the collection, housed on the library's east side, suffered far less harm than initially feared. The ceiling there held, and the archives escaped smoke and flames.
"The material is wet but not burned," Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian for the city, said against the backdrop of a charred and partially collapsed second-floor roofline. "We can deal with wet."