The owners of the Stewart-Lakewood Branch Library filed for a demolition permit for the long-vacant library structure in Sylvan Hills today, August 23rd, marking an end to a 36-year tenure for the building. The library has been closed since 2015, when it was replaced by the Metropolitan Library located just a few blocks to the north. The structure has remained vacant and has become increasingly deteriorated over the past 6 years.
According to the demolition permit, a structure totaling 12,800 SF will be removed from the .32 acre lot. The demolition is expected to cost $145,000 and will not require the removal of any trees.
The structure is attached via an awning to an Urgent Care Clinic next door. It is unclear what will happen to the awning, but the clinic itself will not be part of the demolition.
Despite being built in 1985, it clearly draws from mid-century modern design elements. The library structure is a humble but distinctive one-story building, featuring a glass and brick façade, high ceilings, a diamond shaped roofline and one large interior space. Meanwhile, its replacement, the Metropolitan Library, is also in the modern style but draws more from the Internationalist tradition and features multiple spaces at different elevations. The newer library is also much larger than than the previous, clocking in at 25,000 SF.
The replacement of the Stewart-Lakewood Branch Library was spurred by the 2008 Fulton County Library Bond referendum, which authorized $275 million in funding for renovation and construction of libraries in Fulton County.
As for the site of the Stewart-Lakewood Branch Library, it is unclear what is next. According to property records, Fulton County still owns the site, unless it was recently sold and records have not yet been updated. A new development has broken ground just north of the site, and the Atlanta Board of Education has a complex just to the West. This, plus its proximity to Highway 166, makes is a prime location for redevelopment.
