Beatley Central Library Architecture

Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 - March 12, 2015) was an American architect. Graves was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree from Harvard University in 1959.

Graves has over 200 architectural structures under his belt, including the Restoration of the Washington Monument and the Denver Public Library, to name a few. In 1995, Graves seeked the opportunity to design a building for the Alexandria Library. After successfully winning the bid to design the Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library in 1996, the construction of our library was underway.

In April of 1998, Beatley Central Library held its groundbreaking celebration where key members of the city, including Graves, were in attendance. A year and a half later, in January 2000, Beatley opened its doors to the public. In 2015, our library celebrated 15 years of helping our community in gaining free access to information.

We are very proud to share this brief history with you and hope that you embrace the architect that constructed the building we all call home. 

*Press Release