A library too big for its britches, shaped like a triangle, and threatening closure of an adjacent street. It was bound to happen: Save Mason Street! The San Francisco Public Library has been planning to build an 8,500 square foot library on the North Beach Triangle at 701 Lombard for a good couple years now— plans have the library creating a "future connection to the park" to create a "welcoming, dynamic civic place." Translation: shut down that strip of Mason Street. But! According to a bevy of North Beach after-school clubs— Telegraph Hill Dwellers, North Beach Neighbors, the Chamber of Commerce— "a closure would be disastrous." And indeed would cause increased congestion everywhere else and eliminate 15 scarce parking spaces, along with many other nefarious things. Their fight shall continue; in the meantime, the library's plans continue apace, with construction set to begin early 2010. But where will book borrowers park?
· Save Mason Street [website]
· Notes on Architecture [Curbed SF]
· Library Wars: (Another) Shitstorm for North Beach [Curbed SF]
· North Beach Opposes Library. No Kidding! [Curbed SF]
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