Carnegie Community Centre
Encyclopedia
Hastings Street (Vancouver)
Hastings Street is one of the most important east-west traffic corridors in the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and used to be a part of the decommissioned Highway 7A...
, in the old Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
Public Library building in the Downtown Eastside
Downtown Eastside
The Downtown Eastside is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is known as "Canada's poorest postal code"....
of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
In 1901 Vancouver requested $50,000 from industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
for the purpose of building a library. Carnegie agreed provided the City of Vancouver supplied the site and contributed $5000 a year. The original public library was completed in 1903. For decades, the top floor was the home of the Vancouver Museum
Vancouver Museum
The Museum of Vancouver is a local museum located in Vanier Park, Vancouver, British Columbia. The MOV is the largest civic museum in Canada. The museum was founded in 1894 and recently went through a major re-visioning process in 2008. It shares facilities with the H. R...
. The Vancouver Public Library
Vancouver Public Library
The Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with more than 2.5 million items in its collections, 22 branches, approximately 375,000 cardholders, and nearly nine million item borrowings annually...
moved into a more spacious building at 750 Burrard Street
Burrard Street
Burrard Street is a major thoroughfare in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is the central street of Downtown Vancouver and the Financial District. The street is named for Burrard Inlet, located at its northern terminus, which in turn is named for Sir Harry Burrard-Neale.The street starts at...
in 1957 and the Carnegie building eventually fell into disrepair.
Neighbourhood poverty activists from the Downtown Eastside Residents' Association convinced city council to turn it into a public space for local residents, and it opened as the Carnegie Community Centre in the 1980s. It now houses recreation facilities, a low-cost cafeteria, a branch of the Vancouver Public Library
Vancouver Public Library
The Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with more than 2.5 million items in its collections, 22 branches, approximately 375,000 cardholders, and nearly nine million item borrowings annually...
, and a variety of services and programs for the neighbourhood, which is one of the poorest in Canada. The Carnegie Centre is a drug and alcohol-free area.
The Carnegie Community Centre is owned by the City of Vancouver and is funded by the Social Planning Department. It is open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days per week and every day of the year.
The centre is run by the board of directors of the Carnegie Community Centre Association, which is elected annually from the members of the association. Membership costs one dollar per year and is available to neighbourhood residents, and all the centre's programs are free to members.
There is also an Adult Learning Centre on the top floor, which provides an informal one-on-one tutoring. There is a computer lab containing multiple computers for educational use located inside the Carnegie Hall as well.
The Carnegie Centre puts out a bi-weekly newsletter with articles concerning the Downtown Eastside Community.
The Institute for stained glass in Canada has documented the stained glass at Carnegie Community Centre.