St. Louis Public Library’s Economic Impact

St. Louis, Missouri

The St. Louis Public Library completed a massive renovation of its downtown Central Library—a historic Cass Gilbert-designed structure originally funded in part by a grant from Andrew Carnegie—in 2013. The renovation includes a new 300-seat auditorium and a new north-side entrance while doubling the amount of space available to the public, primarily by relocation of the library stacks and most administrative offices to two nearby buildings. Development Strategies conducted a study of the short-term (construction) and long-term (annual average operational) economic and fiscal benefits of the Central Library Project, which involved the renovation of all three buildings. Results were used to secure and justify funding from various sources to make the renovations financially feasible.