Shovels went in the ground at 9 a.m. yesterday, the symbolic start of construction on the Carnegie Library's Hill District branch at Centre Avenue and Kirkpatrick Street.

The 8,300-square-foot building will be the first ground-up branch in decades. It is expected to be completed in the summer of 2008 for $3.15 million.

A second new construction will be on Federal Street on the North Side, with possible ground-breaking in the fall. Numerous branches have been renovated in recent years.

The Hill branch, a project of Pfaffmann and Associates Architects, is designed to face the intersection instead of squaring off at the corner.

"We think it will be a beacon," said Carnegie Library Director Barbara Mistick. The current library at Centre and Dinwiddie Street "is below [street] grade and people don't always see it. When a library is visible, people are more embracing of its role in the community."

The design harks back to the storefront buildings once so prevalent in the Hill, but this one will be built according to standards for green-building certification.

Architect Robert Pfaffmann said the positioning of glass will allow enough natural light to flood the inside of the building to make electric lights unnecessary on most days. Its ventilation system will be from the floor up.

Landscaping around the building, called a bioswale, will have a holding capacity to waylay storm water runoff.

The south face will have a solar sunscreen wall that manages direct sunlight coming in, he said. And materials are to be renewable and recycled, including the steel for the structure.

Ms. Mistick said a time capsule will be encased somewhere in the building and will hold memorabilia from the Hill District's culture, including copies of August Wilson's plays, Stanley Turrentine's sheet music and a photo of the Pittsburgh Crawfords baseball team, posed on the steps of the original Carnegie Library branch on Wylie Avenue.

The library will include a lounge for teens, a meeting room and art exhibit space.

At one time, and for many years, Beam's gas station occupied that corner, she said.

The Federal Street branch also will occupy the site of a former gas station.

"Gas stations were always centrally located" in cities, "and I think that says something" about our location choices, she said.

The North Side branch is being built to replace the original Allegheny City branch, which was damaged by lightning last year. It is in the schematic stage after a community meeting and a traffic study.

The building's square footage is not certain, in part because parking plans are still uncertain, but a size of roughly 12,000 square feet has been discussed, said Ms. Mistick.

"We hope to do a ground-breaking this fall," she said. "We have fast-tracked it because of the increased use we've had at the Downtown branch."