The community’s long search for the right occupant for the Carnegie library building at Ninth and Vermont streets has paid off.

The idea of using the building to showcase this area’s pre-Civil War history has been in the backs of many residents’ minds for some time. Now, the city says it plans to move forward with renovations that will allow the new Destination Management, which will oversee a variety of historical and tourist initiatives, to move into the Carnegie space.

Destination Management will take over the work of the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as management of the Freedom’s Frontier Heritage Area.

Plans call for the agency to have offices in the daylight basement of the building; the main floor will be maintained for public uses.

While the space is being prepared, Destination Management, which must leave the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce offices by the end of this month, will use office space at 947 N.H., adjacent to the city-owned parking garage.

The city had turned down several proposed uses for the Carnegie building in recent years, but this one seems like a perfect fit. It is a historical building in a great location to be a hub for history-based tourism and add vitality to Lawrence’s downtown.

The Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area presents many exciting opportunities for this area. It will be great to see it and the city’s other tourism efforts united in such an attractive and prominent location.