La Grande works to have its old Carnegie Library building added to the National Register of Historic Places
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, April 25th, 2025 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – The City of La Grande is developing a project to help preserve and restore its historic Carnegie Library building. Efforts are underway to secure consulting funds to have the building officially added to the National Register of Historic Places, opening new grant opportunities to repair and update the iconic structure.
For those unfamiliar with its history, the La Grande Carnegie building was originally constructed in 1913. One of 1,689 such Carnegie Libraries built in the United States between 1816 and 1919 (according to the U.S. National Parks Service), including 31 in Oregon, it served as the La Grande Public Library all the way through September 2006, retiring in this capacity with the construction of the current Cook Memorial Library.
Currently, the building is one of only a handful of Carnegie Libraries remaining in the United States that have not been listed as a historic landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. According to a recent report from the La Grande City Manager’s Office, getting the building added to the register would make the it eligible to receive historic preservation grants.
According to Michael Boquist, La Grande’s Community Development Director, the building is still owned by the City of La Grande, but is leased to Arts Center East, who cover utilities and renovations. Given their status as a non-profit, paying for restoration work predominantly via donations and fundraising isn’t always feasible. The hope is that new grants made available by the addition to the register will allow for proper restoration of the building’s facade and other intact historical elements.
La Grande originally began the process in early 2024, initially lining out a budget of $20,000 dollars, half of which was to be covered by city funds and the other half by grant funding. In the summer of that year, the city was awarded a grant from the State Historic Preservation Office, or SHPO. In working with SHPO, the estimated cost of the project was reduced to $12,460, still to be split 50/50. SHPO ultimately expanded the grant to provide an additional $5,000 dollars, which will be used for staff and Landmarks Commissioner training.
In practice, the funding, according to Boquist, will pay for a consultant to handle the majority of the process of getting the library in the register. Whoever is brought on will be responsible for researching the building’s historical significance, architecture and design work, collating documents and photos, and submitting the proposal to state and federal agencies.
Though the funds have been acquired, due to the timing of the grant, and the number of milestones still left to hit, the project won’t be completed until the 2025-2026 fiscal year. According to Boquist, the city hopes to put out proposal requests for consultants by early May and have proposals ready by early June. The budget committee is currently working to roll the project funding into next year’s budget, which will be brought to the City Council in July alongside the proposals.
Assuming the council approves the project again, the team will have until June 2026 to complete the process, though they plan to hit the ground running once the budget is in place. More information will be available as details are brought to the city council.
