After more than five years of construction, a series of delays and ballooning costs, the return of the Mission branch of the San Francisco Public Library is in sight.
The 110-year-old building, one of seven libraries deemed a San Francisco landmark, will re-open in the spring of 2026, said Andrew Sohn, a Department of Public Works architect and the project’s manager.
The Mission branch, 300 Bartlett St. at 24th Street, has been closed for renovation since March 2020, though construction did not start until August 2023.
Standing outside the 1915 building on a recent Tuesday, Sohn took a long look at the building and said he feels positive about the new timeline: “You can see that we’re getting there.”
Sohn admits to having a passion for libraries: He’s an architect with nearly 40 years of experience, much of it working on civic buildings, like the brutalist Wurster Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, or the historic Carnegie Chinatown public library.
Andrew Sohn, a Public Works architect and the project manager at the Mission library on Tuesday Sep. 23, 2025. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
“They’re great spaces for the broader community,” he said. “I mean, there’s nothing not to like about libraries.”
The Mission Branch will see its staircase on the 24th Street reinstalled after being removed in 1997, and the restoration of its original entrance on 24th Street. Inside, the renovation will create a new teen area, a children’s area, a community room and two additional bathrooms, bringing the grand total to five.
Construction crews rebuild the stairs on the 24th Street side, on Tuesday Sep. 23, 2025. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
The project will also include earthquake retrofitting and end the library’s use of natural gas, outfitting the space with solar panels.
But it hasn’t been cheap or expedient. When the city first unveiled the renovation plans in 2019, costs were pegged at $19.8 million, and the construction timeline was between 18 to 24 months.
The costs later rose to roughly $23 million, and again to $34 million by the spring of 2023 as a result of inflation, shortages in the supply chain, and the complexity of the project, according to a project update from the city.
Inside the construction at the Mission library on Tuesday Sep. 23, 2025. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
That original two years became seven years.
The city only broke ground in 2023 and though renovations were expected to be completed by summer 2025, Mission Local reported last year that the construction was again delayed by months due to neighbors’ concerns about over “shoring” and “pinning” of the structure.
The vibration-monitoring plan during demolition, unforeseen field conditions requiring additional structural design and delays by PG&E in de-energizing the electrical vault also played a role in the delays.
Inside the construction at the Mission library on Tuesday Sep. 23, 2025. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
Sohn described the project as one of the most difficult he’s encountered in his career because of unforeseen issues the crew encountered inside the walls and under the earth. At one point, the construction timeline was also delayed when the city had to find a new waterproofing subcontractor who had the right certification.
Inside the construction at the Mission library on Tuesday Sep. 23, 2025. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
Still, Mission residents can expect to see a familiar, albeit restored, version of the building they once loved. Crews maintained nearly every historic aspect of the branch during the construction. Local companies restored windows and terra cotta in the building.
Upon reopening, Sohn said, Mission residents will experience a library like they have never seen.
“It’s kind of a stuffy little old library,” Sohn said. “But now when you see it, you’ll see that it’s not.”
The Mission library on Tuesday Sep. 23, 2025. Photo by Mariana Garcia.