["KOOM TXIAB - Kev Muaj Npe Rau "Carnegie Library Garage""]

REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: NICHOLAS D. MASCIA, PE, Assistant City Manager Interim Director-Capital Projects Department BY: FRANCISCO V. MAGOS II, PE, Assistant Director Capital Projects Department, On-Site Project Management Division DANIEL CARRION, PE, Licensed Professional Engineer Capital Projects Department, On-Site Project Management Division SUBJECT ..Title RESOLUTION – Naming the “Carnegie Library Garage” ..Body RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that Council adopt the Resolution naming the “Carnegie Library Garage”. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Per Resolution No. 2020 272, naming requests for City facilities must be reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) before going to City Council. The proposed parking garage at 1875 Merced Street, currently referred to as the “North Fulton Parking Structure,” received HPC approval on April 27, 2026, for the proposed name “Carnegie Library Garage.” Staff now seek Council approval to formally adopt this name in recognition of the Fresno’s Carnegie library that once occupied the site before its demolition in 1959. BACKGROUND The City of Fresno is constructing a new public parking structure at 1875 Merced St., a site of historic civic importance in Downtown Fresno bounded on the north by Tuolumne Street, on the west by Broadway Street, on the east by Congo Alley, and on the south by Merced Street. The site was most recently utilized as a surface parking lot but formerly was the site of Fresno’s Carnegie library, an early and significant public building that served the community for decades and represented a major investment in public education, literacy, and civic life. Like many cities across the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Fresno benefited from the Carnegie library movement, which helped establish architecturally prominent public libraries as anchors of civic identity and community. In 1901, Fresno received a $30,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie to build a permanent public library. The architectural firm Copeland & Dole of New York designed the structure in the Classical Revival style, and contractor A.M. Jones carried out the construction. Work progressed over the next several years, and the library opened its doors in 1904. As one of California’s earliest and costliest Carnegie funded libraries, it became the Fresno Public Library’s first purpose-built home. The building continued to serve the community until its demolition in 1959. The architectural design of the new parking garage draws inspiration from the former Fresno Carnegie library building and the broader Carnegie library tradition, incorporating features such as Greek inspired columns, an arcade, and a dentiled cornice. Together, these features and the building’s additional civic oriented detailing help evoke the dignity and rhythm characteristic of historic library design. The name “Carnegie Library Garage” was approved by the Historic Preservation Commission on April 27th, 2026. Staff now recommends that Council approve and formally adopt the naming of the parking structure as the Carnegie Library Garage. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS This is not a “project” for the purposes of CEQA, pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines Section 15378. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference was not considered because the naming of the “Carnegie Library Garage” does not include a bid or award of construction or service. FISCAL IMPACT The “Carnegie Library Garage” Project is in Council District 3 and will have no impact on the General Fund as it is fully funded by grant monies awarded by the State of California via the Downtown Fresno Public Infrastructure Improvement Projects Grant and the Infill Infrastructure Grant Catalytic Fiscal Year 27 appropriations. Attachment: Resolution