Trending
ROCKWELL CITY -- A freewill donation event to help save the Rockwell City Carnegie Library will give local residents an opportunity to listen to live music for a good cause on Sunday.
Concert at the Carnegie featuring music by Chad Elliott will be from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The concert is hosted by The Carnegie Project, a nonprofit organization formed to help save and restore the city's Carnegie Library, 426 Fifth St.
Concertgoers are encouraged to bring their own chair, snacks and beverages. Because of open container laws, alcoholic beverages are not allowed.
Jill Heisterkamp, president of The Carnegie Project, said the funds raised by the group not only go to renovating and rehabilitating the building, but also to keeping the building running in the future.
Exact plans on what businesses or organizations might move into the building someday are not yet nailed down, she said.
"We can't really do anything until we get the building done," she said. "Right now we're focused on fundraising to get the repairs for the building."
Heisterkamp said the estimated cost to fully renovate the building is about $300,000.
The Carnegie Project purchased the building from the City of Rockwell City in late 2019.
At 113 years old, Rockwell City's Carnegie Library has seen a lot of history. Built in 1908, the building design includes influences from multiple architectural styles, something unusual for the time, Heisterkamp said. The building was one of 1,600 libraries funded and built by American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in the late 1800s and early 1900s across the United States.
"We're hoping to get it to a point where it can see another 113 years of history," Heisterkamp said.
Donations to the renovation project can also be made via PayPal and Venmo. Information can be found on The Carnegie Project's Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/thecarnegieproject.