Julia Ideson Library – Archival Wing and Reading Garden Opening April 5, 2010

On Monday, April 5, 2010, the new archival wing and reading garden of the Julia Ideson Library in Houston, Texas will be opening.

The Julia Ideson Library has been undergoing extensive preservation and extension during the past year. The Julia Ideson Library Preservation Partners thanks the City of Houston/Downtown Redevelopment Authority TIRZ #3 and the hundreds of individuals, foundations, and corporations who have helped them raise more than $30.1 million to date.

Phase I of the expansion and restoration of the Julia Ideson Library, the construction of the new archival wing for the invaluable holdings of the Houston Public Library’s Houston Metropolitan Center, will open on April 5, 2010. Please come and visit the HMRC as well as the adjacent palm-shaded reading garden and open-air loggia (entrance at the corner of Smith and Lamar Streets). For hours of operation call 832-393-1313. For more information on the Houston Metropolitan Research Center and its archives visit http://www2.houstonlibrary.org/hmrc/index.html .

Phase II of the $32 million project, the restoration of both the exterior and the beautiful and architecturally significant interiors of the original 1926 building at 500 McKinney designed by Ralph Adams Cram, is now underway and expected to be complete by Summer of 2011. For more information on the project, or to make a tax-deductible contribution to Phase II, visit http://www.ideson.org/ or call Julia Ideson Library Preservation Partners executive director, Margaret Lawler, at 713-660-0772.