For years, Carrboro’s downtown has seen the Drakeford Library Complex coming out of the ground but no clear idea of when it would open. That changed in the fall when both the town government and Orange County approved the building’s name and teased the opening date as February.

Now, though, the library’s opening day is officially set.

The Town of Carrboro shared Tuesday the grand opening date for the facility at 203 South Greensboro Street, setting it for Friday, Feb. 21. An event at 11 a.m. will feature a ribbon cutting and speakers from the town to celebrate the opening, followed by public tours around the building running from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The $42 million development has been in the works dating back to 2016, as the town identified the public parking surface lot as a potential site to construct an addition of the Orange County Public Library and new homes for town and county departments. The effort to bring a library to Carrboro extends even beyond that, with individual advocacy and varying levels of public support dating back 30 years. The three-story, 50,000 square foot project formally broke ground in May 2022.

Beyond the new library, the complex will also provide a permanent home for the Carrboro Recreation, Parks and Cultural Resources Department, the Orange County Skills Development Center, and WCOM Radio. It will also feature performance/multipurpose spaces, and a modern parking deck that will boast 171 vehicle parking spaces and 70 bike parking spots — an upgrade to the previous surface lot’s capacity.

The full announcement can be found on the Town of Carrboro’s website, alongside the local government’s page about the project.

Featured photo via the Town of Carrboro.

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