St. Louis Public Library

The Bernoudy Foundation Donates $150,000 to Downtown Central Library Project

Gift to support $70M revitalization of the St. Louis Public Library's magnificent Central Library

February 24, 2014 | 2 min reading time

This article is 10 years old. It was published on February 24, 2014.

Public Library poster
Photo by John Koniak Title: Poster for the Public Library campaign
Source: John Koniak

Last week the St. Louis Public Library Foundation announced a $150,000 gift from The Bernoudy Foundation of St. Louis to the Library Foundation's Central To Your World capital campaign, a $20 million philanthropic effort to support the $70 million total restoration and renewal of Central Library.

"The St. Louis Public Library Foundation is proud of this acknowledgement by the Bernoudy Foundation of our vision for the revitalized Central Library that all St. Louisans can now enjoy," said Alison Nichols Ferring, co-chair of the St. Louis Public Library Foundation's Central to Your World capital campaign. "We are especially thrilled that this gift is associated with the high level restoration of the Steedman Architectural Room, which houses our world-class architectural history collection, originated by St. Louis businessman George Steedmanin 1933."

Originally opened in 1912, Central Library was designed by renowned American architect Cass Gilbert and built with funds from Andrew Carnegie and the citizens of St. Louis. The Central Library restoration project began in June 2010 and held its grand reopening in late 2012, kicking off its Centennial celebration. The construction team included CLR LLC, development consultant; Cannon Design, architect; and BSI Constructors, construction manager.

Central Library is among the largest construction projects in downtown St. Louis and is funded through Library resources, bond financing, tax credits, and the St. Louis Public Library Foundation's capital campaign which, as of last week, has reached $17.7 million.

Remarking on the gift, St. Louis Public Library Executive Director Waller McGuire said, "It is gratifying to have the support of The Bernoudy Foundation of St Louis. This major gift takes us even closer to our goal and is a significant milestone in our historic campaign."

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About the St. Louis Public Library

Ranked among the top five urban American libraries for the past nine years, the St. Louis Public Library has 17 locations across the city and sees more than 2.3 million visitors each year. The Library has more than 3.5 million items in its collection and more than 70,000 library cardholders. For more information about the St. Louis Public Library and its services, visit www.slpl.org.

About the St. Louis Public Library Foundation

Created in 1989, the Library Foundation supports the St. Louis Public Library's programs and services through fundraising and building relationships with others who share a passion for the library's work. For information or to learn how you can support the Central Library campaign or other programs and services that the Library provides for the St. Louis region, visit www.slplfoundation.org or call Rick Simoncelli at 314.539.0360.