Patch Blog: South Pas Library Gets ADA Ramp

The Friends of the South Pasadena Library, the Library Board of Trustees, and the South Pasadena Public Library invite the entire community to a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Thursday, October 18 at 4 p.m. on the El Centro Street side of the Library Park. The event will celebrate the installation of the new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant wheelchair accessible ramp for the Library Community Room at 1115 El Centro Street.

The present day Community Room is the original main reading room of South Pasadena’s Carnegie Library. A 1906 grant from the Carnegie Corporation provided the initial construction funds for the Library’s 1908 opening. At various times throughout its history the venerable building has been remodeled, renovated, and expanded. The new ramp, designed by Architectural Resources Group of Pasadena and built by Rafael26 Construction, is a cause for celebration the entire community and represents a big stride forward for the Library. The Community Room has hosted thousands of events and meetings since it opened as a public venue in 1982, but it has never had its own wheelchair access.

The design and construction were paid for with a combination of funding from the City of South Pasadena and a Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Special thanks to the South Pasadena City Council, the South Pasadena Cultural Heritage Commission, and the South Pasadena Public Works Department.

The brief ceremony will feature remarks by South Pasadena City officials and others.  Refreshments will be provided. Those attending the Ribbon-Cutting are also invited to attend the acclaimed South Pasadena Farmers Market, taking place concurrently only a block away, and a free Author Night event with Elizabeth Gill Lui whose latest book “Open Hearts Open Doors: Reflections on China’s Past and Future” is published by Cornell University Press in a bilingual English and Chinese edition.

Doors for the Author Night in the Community Room will open at 6:30 p.m. and the program will start at 7:00 p.m. Also featured will be Chinese music by Anna Tang and free refreshments. The Author Night is co-sponsored by the Library, the Friends, and the South Pasadena Chinese-American Club.