Germany: Library Construction: Historic Tempelhof Airport Set to be Site of Grand Berlin Library

From The Guardian:

One of Europe’s first city airports, Tempelhof, made history when western allies used it to break the Soviet blockade of West Berlin in 1948. But since its closure in 2008, politicians in the German capital have been unsure what to do with it.
Now the site is set to be transformed from a historic monument to a hub of historic learning: on Wednesday the city senate unveiled two possible designs for a new central library adjacent to the airport’s disused landing strip.
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Berlin’s senator for urban development, Regula Lüscher, told the Guardian that the new building – which would bring the America Memorial Library and the municipal library on Breite Strasse together under one roof – would become “an education centre open to people from across the social spectrum”. Its construction would be swiftly followed by student accommodation and affordable housing, of which 50% would cost less than €8 per square metre.
The project is not without its critics. Opposition politicians from the Greens and Die Linke have suggested the library is a vanity project of the mayor, Klaus Wowereit, and will be used mainly to draw businesses on to land that currently sits vacant.

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  According to the web site this project will be completed in 2021.

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