As reopening looms, Denver’s renowned Blair Caldwell library faces the future

The clock began to tick when city officials closed Five Points’ renowned Blair Caldwell Library for major renovations in May 2022.

The $2.8 million refreshment of Colorado’s only African American Research Library was set to finish in early 2023, timed to its 20th anniversary, and now a long way from its debut as a legacy project of former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb.

Since that 2003 opening, the Five Points neighborhood — the historic seat of Denver’s Black culture, once called the Harlem of the West — has evolved around the library into a bustling food, music and nightlife destination, following years of stubborn resistance to redevelopment.

That’s a mixed blessing in Five Points, where residential and commercial projects have driven up prices while seeding a row of high-rises along Welton Street, just east of downtown. They’ve also infused the area with pedestrian traffic and helped grow festivals such as the Juneteenth and Five Points Jazz festivals into celebrated regional events.

“I am 100% committed to making sure Blair-Caldwell receives the improvements it needs, but also that it continues to have Black heritage and culture,” then-Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks told The Denver Post in 2017, after the project was first announced.

Now that we’re more than halfway through 2023, there’s little outside sign that the building has undergone any changes, even as other projects that received money from the $1.2 billion Elevate Denver bond — such as $150 million of additions and upgrades at Denver Art Museum — have reached high-profile completion.

But that’s just a façade, according to city officials, who noted that most of the work is invisible from the street.

“The renovations are almost complete and we are working hard behind the scenes to wrap up construction, ensure we have staff in place and move our collection, archives and resources back into the building,” said Olivia Gallegos, communications manager for the Denver Public Library system. “We are expecting to open later this summer.”

Complementing the nearby, nonprofit Black American West Museum, Blair Caldwell is one of only a half-dozen or so institutions in the U.S. dedicated to preserving the history of Black culture through extensive papers and photographs culled over decades from local African American businesses, churches, schools and social organizations, according to the city.

It’s also been a gathering place for a diverse swath of Denverites, a voting center, and a gateway to Five Points that melds into Sonny Lawson Park.

So what’s going on in there? City officials shared their updated plans with The Denver Post this week, including:

• A redesigned first floor using an open floor plan
• A new teen space and “reimagined” children’s area
• New study rooms with amenities
• Relocation of the circulation desk and book drop
• A refreshed community room that provides more flexibility for events and programming
• Incorporation of African American history throughout the main floor with imagery and displays from the archive;  an early press statement cited artwork by Denver artist Sam McNeil

The features will adjoin the signature, 5,800-square-foot entry gallery that bathes the first floor in natural light, with individual areas for children, teens and adults, and bilingual options throughout.

“We know how important Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library is to the community and that customers rely on our materials for research,” City Librarian Michelle Jeske said in a statement last year.

“Since they’re still performing work in the building, we’re only allowing construction staff and library staff on site for the time being,” Gallegos added this week.

The library is named for Omar Blair, a Tuskegee airman who was the first African-American president of the Denver Public Schools board, and Elvin Caldwell, Denver’s first African-American city councilman, The Denver Post has reported. At the time of its renovation closure, it was serving nearly 150,000 visitors per year.