COLUMBUS—Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) will break ground on its new Marion-Franklin Branch at 2800 Lockbourne Rd. on Monday, July 29 at 10:30 a.m., kicking off construction with a highly visual ceremony that will include library leaders and city and community officials. The brief event is free and open to all.
The current Marion-Franklin Branch, located within the former Beery Middle School at 2740 Lockbourne Rd., opened in 2014 as an “express branch” to serve a community that did not previously have close access to library services. It will remain open during construction of the new branch. The new, standalone Marion-Franklin Branch will be built a few blocks to the south of the current branch and will more than double its size from roughly 4,000 square feet to approximately 10,000 square feet. CML hopes to open the new Marion-Franklin Branch in 2025. Turner is the construction manager at risk and Schooley Caldwell and Evoke Studios are the architects.
CML opened its new Gahanna Branch in 2023 and its new Reynoldsburg Branch earlier this year. CML’s Linden and Barnett branches are currently undergoing renovation and expansion and CML expects to break ground on a new, standalone Canal Winchester Branch later this year.
Visit columbuslibrary.org for more information and to track progress of CML’s ambitious building program. Visit columbuslibrary.org/press to view other Columbus Metropolitan Library press releases.
