Lincoln Center

In 2009 the library foundation members decided to auction an original handwritten manuscript of Abraham Lincoln’s 1864 reelection address. The Lincoln Center is an addition to the historic Southworth Library that will be financed from some of the $3 million netted from the auction sale.

The existing library is a beautiful Romanesque style building designed by William Henry Miller in 1894 and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The design approach for the addition was to add “behind” it and to connect to it with a light and transparent link allowing the existing building to maintain it’s own integrity.

The addition is respectful of the original building and harmonizes with it by employing a design that resonates the mass, size, roof pitches and style of the existing building. In accordance with the advice from the Secretary of Interior’s standards, the proposed addition is compatible in scale, massing, and materials and yet is clearly discernible as modern and distinct from the original structure.