Then: Niagara Falls Public Library

The Niagara Falls Public Library has its origins from 1878 in the Clifton, Drummondville, and Stamford Mechanics Institutes, formed as educational centres for working men and women. In 1895 these institutes became public libraries.

The first main library of the new city opened in 1910 at Armoury Street and Victoria Avenue and was expanded in 1954, built with funds from the Carnegie trust, at a cost of $15,000. Ten percent of the funding and the land for the structure was provided by the City of Niagara Falls, in an arrangement typical of the building of Carnegie Libraries. The trust, founded by Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, funded 125 Carnegie libraries in Canada (2,509 globally). The Carnegie building served as the city's library from its opening in 1910 until 1974, when the a Victoria street location was opened. Those attending the opening ceremonies in 1910 were asked to contribute books to add to the new library's collection. A request that was fulfilled by nearly everyone in attendance, resulting in 8,000 additions to the library's collection.

The building is a fine example of Beaux-Arts civic architecture of the early twentieth century, with polychromatic brickwork, a neoclassical closed pediment, and large Venetian windows. The structure emphasizes symmetrical features and rational yet decorative design features.While the Carnegie trust did not mandate design, many Carnegie libraries around the world demonstrate similar architectural styles. The architectural style of the library was typical of the City Beautiful Movement within the emerging field of urban design, which emphasized the virtues of civic life, public greenspace, and classical revival in the beautification of cities in the early twentieth century. The location of the library, on the corner of Victoria and Armoury Streets, made it central and accessible to the city's inhabitants. Located immediately across Armoury street from the Niagara Falls Armoury, the library stood in a civic centre of early Niagara Falls.

Now: Dominion Lending Centres

Planning began for the construction of a new 47,365 square foot library at Morrison Street and Victoria Avenue on the site of the old T. E. Eaton Store. The result was the stunningly beautiful building which opened November 23rd 1974. Chief Librarian at the time, Dorothy Van Slyke, said "The building was designed with nature as its central theme. The hundreds of plants throughout, water running in the fountains and pools, and the rustic walkways give the feeling you are strolling through a garden."

The old Carnegie Library was transferred to alternative use by the city and served as offices for a number of city departments. It would later serve as the Niagara Falls Community Resources Centre, and today is office space occupied by Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage division. The exterior of the building has been preserved in accordance with its status as a designated heritage property having been accorded in 1999.

City of Niagara Falls. 2019. Carnegie Library Heritage Property Details.

Parks Canada. 2017. Canada's Historic Places: A Federal, Provincial and Territorial Collaboration. Canada's Historic Places.

Niagara Falls Then and Now
A collaborative project
Niagara Falls Museums - Niagara Falls Public Library - Dept. of Geography and Tourism Studies,Brock University.
Original newspaper series by Sherman Zavitz, Official Historian for the City of Niagara Falls from 1994 - 2019.

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