A landmark Carnegie library building in Minneapolis is being remodeled into a spa (Strib registration apparently required unless you get to the story through Google News), which opens for business in December.
“The upper level will have six pedicure chairs and a large manicure area, along with two plasma TVs. … On the lower level are locker rooms and a pool room for water shiatsu, a type of massage therapy done while the client floats in warm water. There also are rooms for aroma and mud therapy and a VIP room with a fireplace, a two-person Jacuzzi, a two-person steam bath and direct access to three treatment areas that can be used by couples and groups for $150 per hour per person. A day at the spa might cost $450.”
Churches too…
I remember passing by an older Christian-denominated church in Chicago a year or so ago that was converted into luxury condos. They kept the full look and feel of the church, and someone was lucky enough to get the main stained glass in their living room.
Maybe it’s a trend in the making, or just part of consolidation. Instead of letting libraries close, they need to offer regional services. In Minneapolis, that would be a library where you could get all your Target shopping completed. In Seattle, a Starbucks library. And in Chicago, pizza and beer in the stacks.
Too bad they prefer old buildings…
I wish someone would come in and make use of the empty Walmarts, Lowes, and other huge warehouse stores that simply build bigger versions of themselves somewhere else rather than renovating the existing building. I’ve heard a few rumors that a place like that near here might be turned into a year-round farmer & artisan market. That’s the only time I’ve known of one of these empty husks possibly being put to use by someone other than the rats.
Walker Library
When the building was still Walker Library, the
Minneapolis Public Library system decided to abandon it and build a “new” library
directly across the street.
The “new” Walker Library has an unfortunate concrete bunker type of design
and needs $700,000 in repairs…
So MPL is looking at selling the “new” Walker
Library building or converting it “mixed use development”
or relocating the library elsewhere.
Meanwhile long time residents wonder about a possible curse that dooms
every business in the “old” Walker library to fail…
Re:Too bad they prefer old buildings…
Springfield, MO has done exactly this. A few years ago they built a showplace library on the south end of town in an old Payless Cashways (big-box hardware store). It’s now called The Library Center. Since then, they have converted a former furniture store into The Library Station. At one time, possibilities for the library where I work in Tulsa included renovating an abandoned Builder’s Square, but that fell through.
Re:Too bad they prefer old buildings…
Ugh. A spa in a Wal-Mart. Just where I would head when I was feeling stressed out and overwhelmed.
Re:Too bad they prefer old buildings…
Funny you should ask. Here in Denton,Tx (the Home of Happiness) they converted an old supermarket in to their North Branch. It really is a nice library. Clean, very open (it was a supermarket for goodness sakes) and modern. The downside is that they moved the staff from the central library, and are now considering making the old central library city offices. So now we would have a North and South branch, but no central library. The libraries are now closely situated within the moneyed ends of town, leaving the older downtown and central neighborhoods with nothing. How forward thinking. So in conclusion, kudos to the City of Denton for recreating an incredibly ugly structure into an excellent facility, now open a central library for goodness sakes!
Sorry, for the rant. Completely inexcusable.