Benning Library supporters are expected to appear in District of Columbia Superior Court on July 20 to try tostop the city from demolishing the old facility before getting what they say is adequate input from the community on plans for a new building.
In the meantime, D.C. Superior Court Senior Judge Bruce Beaudin ordered the city late last week not to begin demolition work at the branch, which was to have occurred by the end of July.
The lawsuit, filed by Benning Library supporters and several Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, is a result of several years of frustration by the community to have input on the city’s plans to rebuild the library, Commissioner Rick Tingling-Clemmons said.
“These decisions are being made in offices downtown and they’re coming and telling us what they’re going to do,” he said.
Further deepening that frustration has been failure by the city to open an interim library nearby in a timely manner, said Louise Gray, a former librarian who has advocated for the Benning branch.
She said the facility was promised by January, and was most recently told it would be open by June 1.
D.C. Public Libraries closed four neighborhood branches in December 2004 with the intent to rebuild modern facilities on the old sites. It announced in April that Horton & Barber Construction LC would demolish the Benning branch by the end of July, work that has not yet begun, a library spokeswoman said.
Chief Librarian Ginne Cooper said the interim library has been unable to open because Pepco has not finished work.
