The new Rondo Community Outreach Library replaces the current Lexington Branch Library and nearly doubles the space, providing more seating, books, public computers, community meeting space and an expansion of the library’s small business resource center. The library occupies the ground level and underground parking is provided for the library’s use.

Client: the city St. Paul
Type: Library
Size: 36,000 SF

Neighborhood Revitalization

This community-focused project was a joint venture between the public library and a private developer that combines library programming with a 234,000 SF mixed-use, five-story project. Located in a very diverse and vibrant community dedicated to renovating older structures, the new building is designed as a traditional multifamily complex with an urban edge. This urban-revitalizing project is illustrative of the essential role a library can play in maintaining a strong neighborhood by helping to renew a culturally diverse area.

Uniquely, the $25 million project is a showcase of new, affordable housing anchored by a library which has become a vitally important resource for the people of the Rondo neighborhood and surrounding community.