Pittsburgh City Council cleared the way today for a new Carnegie Library in the North Side.
Council members voted to transfer a parcel of vacant land on Federal Street to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which has agreed to sell the land to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for $1.
The Federal Street library will replace the Allegheny Regional Library at 5 Allegheny Square, which closed in April 2006 after lighting hit the library's clock tower. The new library will be built near the planned Federal North housing development.
The library was the first opened by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.
Some opponents of the move told council members they should not allow the land transfer because of the shuttered branch's historic significance.
"I urge you ... have library service restored to the Allegheny Regional Library and avoid another long-time vacancy in the core of Allegheny Center," Mt. Lebanon resident Glenn A. Walsh told council members.
"We can't make the Carnegie Library stay in a location that they don't want to stay in," said Councilwoman Tonya Payne, who represents that part of the North Side.
The land transfer passed 7-1. Councilwoman Darlene Harris was the lone dissenter. She said she opposes the library's move.
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