Week of December 12, 2022: Every year, the Cincinnati Preservation Association celebrates and recognizes outstanding accomplishments in preservation. In 2022, they “enthusiastically selected” the Walnut Hills Branch Library for the award recognizing excellence in Institutional Rehabilitation. This award "recognizes institutional and public buildings that have been substantially restored or rehabilitated and comply with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation." Eva Jane Romaine Coombe Library Director Paula Brehm-Heeger and Walnut Hills Senior Branch Manager Ashley Barnhill attended the awards ceremony on Sunday, December 4, 2022 to receive the award.

Week of October 17, 2022: The renovated, expanded, and fully accessible Walnut Hills Branch Library opened on Thursday, October 20 at 10 a.m. after some brief remarks and a ribbon cutting.

Week of September 19, 2022: Landscaping has begun to be installed with trees planted along Kemper Lane. Furniture, such as shelving, tables, chairs, and staff offices is assembled. Playscapes are being assembled in the kid's play area.

Week of September 12, 2022: The renovation and project is in its final phases, with finish work well underway. Due to the project's progress, the temporary location at 961 E McMillan St. will close to customers starting September 25, 2022.

Holds scheduled to be delivered to the Walnut Hills location will be available at the Downtown Main Library.

The new location is expected to open in October 2022.

Week of August 15, 2022: Interior flooring and exterior concrete work is nearly complete. Woodwork on the ceiling and door frames is wrapping up.

Week of August 8, 2022: Building and site work is nearing completion, with furniture installation planned to begin in the next weeks.

Week of August 1, 2022: After 170 hours and nearly 4,000 assembled pieces, Cincinnati-based artist Jessica Wolf finished installing the branch's centerpiece light fixture. The exterior concrete ramp has been poured, and interior painting continues.

Week of July 18, 2022: Interior flooring is nearing completion. Installation of wood finishing on ceilings and doorways has begun.

Week of June 6, 2022: Interior flooring and drywall installation ongoing with preparation for external concrete pouring in coming weeks.

Week of May 9, 2022: Work continues on interior framing. Ceilings prep has been completed.

Week of March 7, 2022: Window installation continues, handrails on the new staircases are being installed. Work on the interior and exterior stone and masonry work continues.

Week of March 14, 2022: Masonry and duct work continues with nearly all windows installed.

Week of March 28, 2022: Large glass curtain wall has been installed in what was the main entry of the existing building. Interior wall construction continues in the basement along with stonework throughout the existing and new buildings. Framing on windows in new building is nearing completion.

Week of February 21, 2022: Brick and stone installation continues on the new addition. Window installation has begun, the roof on the new addition is installed, and the exterior stairs to the existing building have been removed.

Week of January 21, 2022: Bricks are being laid on the exterior walls of the new addition. Interior concrete floors are being poured and new paint is in progress within the existing building.

Week of November 15, 2021: Steel is being erected for the structure of the new addition and its connection to the existing building.

Week of November 1, 2021: Interior and mechanical work continues on the existing building while walls on the new addition are expected to be completed in the coming weeks.

Week of October 26, 2021: Interior construction is nearing completion in the existing building. The new addition's foundation is almost complete.

Week of September 20, 2021 - Contractors tested all of the paint colors this week. The steel for the new openings in the old building are in place. Crews should be wrapping up work on the new addition's foundation early next week.

Week of August 9, 2021 - Contractors poured the floor in the basement auditorium and are wrapping up the elevator shaft work for the basement addition.  Framing is just about finished on the main floor and drywall will start getting installed soon. Footings for the addition on the main floor are expected to start next week.

Week of July 19, 2021 - The contractors are almost finished working on the walls of the new basement.  A structural beam will be placed next week to support the new conference rooms that look out onto Kemper Lane. Crews have prepped the lot across the street which will become the branch library's new parking lot.

Week of July 5, 2021 - Multiple projects are underway. The contractors continue to pour the walls of the new basement. They have poured most of the floors in the existing basement. The main level is being prepared HVAC penetration testing. Crews have insulated most of the storage space on the top floor.

Week of June 21, 2021 - The ceilings continue to be finished up. More framing went up on the main level.  Concrete and site work continues on both the expansion and the parking lot across the street. Basement concrete work is in progress to accommodate utility updates and to level the floor.

Week of March 1, 2021 - Interior demolition is nearing completion. The site superintendent met with the tile contractor on site to discuss restoring the vintage tile floor (as seen in photo gallery above) and creating a "reverse rug" effect.

The Walnut Hills project is now in the Construction Design (CD) Phase. The CD Phase is the last phase of design and involves a refined level of detail to all project drawings and specifications. The construction duration is scheduled duration is 14-15 months starting early December 2020 with a completion date around February 2022.

The purpose of the CD Phase is to prepare all documents required by the contractor to construct the building. During this stage, the consultants and architect collaborate intensively to work out the “nuts and bolts” of the building and develop the required documentation, referred to as construction documents. All of the consultants advise the architect, but they also collaborate with each other (generally through the architect) so that the work of one consultant agrees with that of the others.

The construction documents consist of the following items:

• Construction drawings
• Specifications
• Renovated and Expanded Walnut Hills Renderings

The project is currently in the pre-design phase. The Library has selected Megen Construction, opens a new window as the Construction Manager at Risk to help manage and construct the renovation and expansion of the Walnut Hills Branch Library. The pre-design process outlines many options that the Library can choose from to determine the overall scope of the project moving forward.

The project architect, Fishbeck, opens a new window, helps to provide many options to the Library that provide the best fit and fulfill our future needs based on input incorporated by the new Facility Master Plan.

The pre-design process will include project options to help determine the size of the new added building to the existing historical building, space layout options inside both buildings that best fit the spaces where general Library services will be provided inside of the building, building code reviews with the governing authority to ensure compliance or determine if the project will encounter any constraints moving forward, overall neighborhood reviews to understand what impacts the Library may contribute.