News from Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library
EVPL Red Bank demolition, groundbreaking planned
Evansville – September 14, 2026 – The demolition of the former EVPL Red Bank building will begin today as the site is cleared to make way for a new library to serve the west side of Vanderburgh County. A groundbreaking ceremony to formally kick-off the construction of the new EVPL Red Bank is planned for Wednesday, October 7 at noon.
The reconstruction of EVPL Red Bank is the next step of Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library’s Master Facilities Plan, released in January 2022. The plan identified the need for a substantially larger regional library to better serve the western part of Vanderburgh County.
“For many years, library leadership has recognized the need to increase the size and scope of EVPL Red Bank,” said Scott Kinney, CEO, EVPL. “The library was built in 1991 and was scaled to the west side’s population at that time. The area has changed considerably in 35 years, as has the way people utilize library spaces and services.”
Plans for the new building were designed by MKM architecture + design. The new building will be approximately 21,000 square feet (an increase from the current 14,000 square foot building), and will feature multiple meeting and study rooms, dedicated programming spaces, and capacity for nearly 80,000 items.
Early concepts for the new library were presented to the community late last year. The new EVPL Red Bank will incorporate the wooded area to the north of the property, with features to create connections between interior and exterior spaces. The new library will also include meeting and reading spaces that face large windows and green space and will incorporate design elements inspired by nature.
The project is being funded by a bond issuance, which was approved by the Library Board and the Evansville City Council in 2025. The bond issuance kept the library’s debt service tax rate neutral.
A temporary library location, EVPL Red Bank Express, opened in March on property adjacent to the former and future library.
Additional details about the groundbreaking will be provided as the date approaches.
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