Nashville’s main library sets tentative date for downtown reopening, nine months after closure

Nashville’s Main library is looking to reopen at the end of March.

The March 30 date remains tentative. It was set by the independent restoration company in charge of the reopening process and announced by Nashville Public Library on Monday. The downtown location will require inspections by a fire marshal and Metro Codes before staff and patrons can reenter the building.

The Main library has been closed since the adjoining parking garage caught fire last June. While the blaze was contained to the garage (which is owned by the Nashville Department of Transportation and operated by the Nashville Downtown Partnership, not the library), parts of the library were damaged.

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said late last month that there are multiple active insurance claims related to the fire. The area where the blaze originated had been leased by the NDP to a Louisville-based subcontractor.

“There are a bunch of claims and contracts related to the garage,” O’Connell said. “We’re going to have to figure out how Metro’s claims, you know — all the people that had parking contracts in the garage — that as the owner of the garage, not sure how that’s all going to play out in terms of who pays for what and on what timeline.”

Following the fire, the library had initially said it was targeting an end-of-July reopening, but that date was soon postponed. As the site was cleared of soot and smoke damage, further work was identified and required in the building’s fire safety systems.

“The deeper they have gotten into the facility, the more challenging it is to get things open from smoke damage and other related damages to the fire,” O’Connell told reporters last month.

About 90% of the library experienced light soot and smoke damage, while the auditorium and conference center faced the brunt of the impact. That first-floor area will not reopen along with the rest of the library, as it will require long-term restoration.

Various programs, like Limitless Libraries and the Library of Things, have experienced disruptions, as some materials housed at the Main library were inaccessible.

There’s no timeline for the garage to reopen. The current plan is to reopen the lower garage levels first, while repairs to the upper levels continue.