Brand Library facing face-lift

NORTHWEST GLENDALE ? A state agency rejected Brand Library’s nearly $2.5-million grant application, but that’s not stopping the library from putting up nearly $4 million of its own money for upgrades, officials said.

The California Cultural and Historical Endowment, a state agency that funds projects for establishments that tell a story about California, rejected Glendale Public Library officials’ request for nearly $2.5 million to fund the historical preservation of Brand Library, Assistant Director of Libraries Cindy Cleary said.

Library officials were hoping to use the money for the preservation and restoration of Leslie C. Brand’s original 1904 mansion, which an addition was built onto in 1969, Cleary said.

But even without the money, officials will still move forward with functional upgrades to the entire library structure, using $3.8 million from the library’s capitol improvement fund, Cleary said.

The upgrades include expanding the library’s access for the disabled, updating heating and air conditioning systems and upgrading electrical lines, plumbing and the roof, she said.

“We want to focus on the modernization of the building as a library,” she said. “We are hoping to be able to accomplish all of that. Three-point-eight million sounds like a lot of money, but we don’t know if we’re going to be able to do it all.”

Library officials are in the process of finalizing the selection of an architect for the upgrades, Cleary said, adding that they hope to finish the design process at the end of the year in order to start work on the library in February.

“All public buildings, whether they are historical or not, have to be maintained,” said Juliette Arroyo, a member of the Glendale Historical Society. “Building upgrades and building preservation are the same, because if you don’t maintain a building like that one, it’s going to fall into disrepair.”

The library was the original home Brand, who was one of the primary developers of early Glendale, said Arlene Vidor, president of the Glendale Historical Society.

“It’s a very significant landmark, not only in terms of its own history, but in terms of the development of Southern California in the work of its original owner,” Vidor said.

Brand would be happy to know his home is being maintained for use, Arroyo said.

“It’s truly a landmark in all sense of the word,” she said. “It holds a lot of significance for Glendale.”

Library officials expect to receive input on the grant application they submitted in January from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment at the end of May, Cleary said.

The agency is offering a total of $122 million in grants to government and nonprofit entities for preservation and restoration projects through three application phases. Glendale library officials hope to apply for funds again in the third phase, Clearly said.

“We did hear there were six times the available funding in requests, so I mean it was incredibly competitive,” she said.

The California Cultural and Historical Endowment has not set an official application deadline for the third phase, but Cleary said it would likely be in February of next year.

“I am incredibly optimistic,” she said.