Houston historic landmark reopens

An iron fence encircling the relandscaped front plaza and a Spanish Renaissance–styled interior highlight the $32-million expansion and restoration of Houston Public Library’s Julia Ideson Library, home of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center. The three-story, 66,000-square-foot 1926 historic landmark is named after the city’s first professional librarian and was designed by Boston architect Ralph Adams Cram. The nonprofit Julia Ideson Library Preservation Partners, with an all-volunteer board, worked with the library and the city on the project. The library reopened in December 2011.

Photo credits: Jenny Antill and Joel Draut