SALT LAKE CITY — You usually think of libraries as a quiet place to read and research but the Salt Lake City Main Library is shouting from the rooftops…about its rooftop.
What used to be an oasis for yoga, weddings and other events is now a pile of scrap and dirt as teams demolish everything down past the waterproofing on the library's roof.
"It's a significant project," explained Scott Davis, superintendent of the project.
One of the challenges is the rooftop location.
"Because we're on the roof and limited by weight...what we can have up here as far as equipment, it's a little more time consuming a little bit more labor as far as doing things by hand and removing material," Davis reflected.
The goal of the project is to turn the roof into a sanctuary but it's about more than aesthetics as repairs had to be made due to damage caused by the 2020 earthquake.
"It's caused some weaknesses in some of the sprinkler systems and we're seeing some leaks there," Davis explained.
The major project also came with a major price tag - $7.9 million, to be exact. The library has been setting money aside for years, saving up for the major undertaking. Half of the budget is for waterproofing alone.
In preparation for the project, the library polled the community to find out what they would want to see on the roof.
"We realized that we needed to take it all back down to the basics," explained Quinn McQueen, Director of Marketing and Communications Salt Lake City Public Library System. "With that, we decided to do some community engagement, find out what the community wanted, and really build a long-lasting roof that was going to serve us for decades to come.
There will be shade structures and trees on the roof to keep things cool in the summer and turn it into a must-see attraction in Salt Lake City.
Beehives will also represent Utah's nickname at the library.
"So we have hives that and we have a beekeeper on staff who has been taking care of them during the construction," McQueen said.
The project won't be completed until Fall 2024, but library leaders don't expect a major disruption to the facility and its patrons.
