After tumultuous year, downtown library no longer propped up by jacks

BATON ROUGE- The large, overhanging portion of the downtown library is finally being allowed to stand on its own more than a year after its construction was waylaid by a structural failure.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the hydraulic jacks that have propped up the parish library since last April have been retracted. The latest development comes just over a month after repairs finally resumed at the location.

The downtown library isn’t jacked up anymore. @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/d6jKm6OSOr — Chris Nakamoto WBRZ (@ChrisNakamoto) May 15, 2019

Construction was first halted last year after critical support beams suddenly snapped apart on the building's overhang.

The cost for completing the library is expected to be more than $2.7 million, which the city has financed in order to salvage the project. The city-parish and contractor associated with the construction are looking to delay the impending legal battle over who's liable in order to prioritize the repairs.