NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The downtown library branch is set to reopen on July 29 following extensive restoration work after a fire in the adjacent parking garage. For one family, the reopening means their daughter's dream wedding venue will be available just in time.
"I love the way the library looks," said Vickie Sparks, who has spent two years helping her daughter plan her dream wedding with a storybook theme at the library.
The family's plans were thrown into uncertainty when an explosive fire in the neighboring parking garage closed the library's doors.
"It took a week later when they said Hey, we don't know how long this will take. You may want to start looking around," Sparks said.
"I did not sleep. I felt like the bride. I was having sleepless nights."
As a supportive mother, Sparks approached the library board to help make her daughter's October wedding a reality.
"I was at their mercy. I was like is there anything we can do," she said.
Restoration professionals detailed the damage to the board for the first time since the June 10 parking garage fire. Smoke and soot affected more than 90% of the building, requiring cleaning of furniture, surfaces, and thousands of books.
The conference center, auditorium, art gallery, and circulation areas sustained the most damage.
"That area requires what we call remedial demolition. Soot got behind walls and in ceilings, it will require removing or replacing those materials," a restoration expert told the board.
"The thing that holds us up will not be contamination or air quality. It will be sequencing those repairs."
Experts assured the board they can meet the July 29 reopening date, allowing the Sparks wedding to proceed as planned.
"This has been a blessing," Sparks said.
However, one wedding detail remains unresolved: parking. The garage will not be available when the library reopens.
"The problem is with the new stadium. There is no more parking. All of those lots are... We'll have to problem-solve around parking," library officials said.
The Sparks family has already adapted their plans: "We said OK, we'll do Ubers."
The restoration team confirmed the children's area will be safe to return to and air quality should not be a concern. Their goal is for library visitors to walk in and hardly notice the building was impacted by fire at all.
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Have you been affected by the downtown library closure or faced similar venue challenges? Email me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com with your story.
