Pittsburgh City Council will hold a public hearing today on the impending move of the Carnegie Library branch in Hazelwood from its current home on Monongahela Street into a newer building.

	The Carnegie Library branch in Hazelwood may leave its old home, top, for a newer building at Second and Flowers avenues in the spring. (Robin Rombach,. Post-Gazette)

At least two community groups, Glen Hazel Citizens Association and Greater Hazelwood Development Inc., have voiced opposition to the move, saying they want the library to remain where it is.

The 103-year-old Hazelwood branch features a mahogany circulation desk with a distinctive stained-glass dome above it.

Despite that architectural beauty, Mary Ann McHarg, branch manager, said it makes sense to move to Sophia Plaza, a far more modern building at Second and Flowers avenues.

The Carnegie has signed a five-year lease to rent 4,000 square feet at Sophia Plaza, which is owned by Gombas Development.

Older people cannot walk the steep hill up Hazelwood Avenue to reach the old branch on Monongahela Street, McHarg said.

McHarg said the roof is leaking and pointed out water damage that is apparent on the wall of at least one ground floor room. A musty smell permeates the 250-seat auditorium in the building's basement.

The building is not air-conditioned nor is its main floor handicapped-accessible.

The new space, while located on the second floor of a building that houses a laundromat and delicatessen, has an elevator, air-conditioning and space for a children's reading area.

The new building is also closer to a high-rise apartment for senior citizens and a Head Start program for children, McHarg said.

Craig Dunham, who manages the planning, design and construction at the Carnegie's branches, said the library will pay $2,100 a month for its lease, which was signed about a week and a half ago.

The library also will pay property taxes to the city.

The Hazelwood branch will move into the new space in January, but will not reopen until March, Dunham said.

Library officials, Dunham added, will work with community leaders to try to find a buyer for the building.

"If we buy it and then sell it, council action is required for us to make a subsequent sale. But we don't necessarily see ourselves buying it and selling it," Dunham said.