The Southeast Library on Capitol Hill reopened this week after a $41 million renovation that doubled the size of the century-old Carnegie building by digging an entirely new basement beneath it. Mayor Muriel Bowser joined library staff and community leaders on Thursday to celebrate the milestone, calling it what may be her final library opening as mayor.
Built in 1922, the Southeast Library is the city's second-oldest neighborhood library and one of four Carnegie-funded libraries constructed in Washington, according to DC News Now. To pull off the expansion while preserving the historic building, crews lifted the century-old masonry shell onto steel supports so they could excavate below it, a technique detailed by the Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser. Architecture firm Quinn Evans and general contractor Whiting-Turner served as the design-build team behind the subterranean expansion.
A Footprint That More Than Doubled
The library's total footprint grew from 7,943 square feet to 17,547 square feet, with the size of the building below ground doubling as part of the dig, per the same report from the mayor's office. That expansion means the branch can now welcome tens of thousands of additional visitors per year, the outlet's report notes. DC Public Library Executive Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan said the project preserves landmarks while adapting them for future use.
Inside, the renovated building now includes designated youth spaces, public study and meeting rooms, and a fully accessible entrance, along with a new entrance on South Carolina Avenue SE. A new central skylight and light well bring generous amounts of natural light into the building, the report states, and the original historic fireplace mantel on the upper level was restored as part of the work.
An Ornamental Ceiling Panel, Hidden and Found
One of the more striking details to emerge from the project involves an ornamental glass ceiling panel, or laylight, discovered behind plaster during a 2020 site investigation. The historic laylight was restored offsite and reinstalled during construction, restoring a piece of the original 1922 design that had been concealed for decades.
The scale of the transformation reflects how much the project grew over time. Estimated at $23.5 million when planning began in 2019 and $33 million prior to the library's closure in late 2023, the total cost reached $41 million by its reopening, according to the Hill Rag. The work involved complex excavation beneath and around the building and structural support. The renovation also expanded room for books by 50 percent, while public computers were among the interim-service features, Hill Rag reported.
Sustainability Built Into the Historic Shell
The modernization fully electrified the library so it can operate without fossil fuels and added a green roof over the new South Carolina Avenue SE addition, according to architecture firm Quinn Evans. The project also served as DC Public Library's pilot for LEED v4.1 certification, aligning historic preservation with the city's building decarbonization goals.
The building's historic status shaped nearly every design decision along the way. The District's Historic Preservation Review Board designated the Southeast Library a D.C. historic landmark in March 2021, a status that reflects the building's integrity within the Capitol Hill Historic District, according to the Capitol Hill Restoration Society.
Neighbors Managed Without a Local Branch for Years
After the library closed on January 4, 2024, residents relied on interim book holds and public computer access at the nearby Northeast Library, plus an express site at the Arthur Capper Community Center, Hill Rag reported at the time. Neighbors had voiced concern that interim services at Arthur Capper would be inadequate.
Federal money also played a role in supporting library technology citywide during the closure. In August 2024, Washington received $61.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to upgrade community facilities, including broadband access and senior programming at the Southeast and Shaw libraries, Hoodline previously reported.
Part of a 12-Year, Citywide Library Push
Bowser said that over the past 12 years, all 26 of the city's neighborhood libraries have been renovated, rebuilt, or invested in under her administration, according to the mayor's office. The Southeast reopening arrives as Shaw Library undergoes its own renovation, expected to finish in early 2027, while the Northeast Library is scheduled for a makeover and a full-service library in Congress Heights is expected to open in 2027 after already beginning construction preparation work, per DC News Now.
The Southeast branch's reopening also lands months after officials selected a development team for the Chevy Chase Civic Site, the final branch location in the city's 26-library capital system to begin modernization, as Hoodline reported in March. All four of the city's Carnegie-funded libraries — Central, Takoma Park, Southeast, and Mount Pleasant — still stand today, with the Central branch now home to an Apple Store and the DC History Museum, according to the mayor's office.
