A community cultural center.

A homeless shelter.

A wrestling gym.

These are just a few of the suggested uses for Lawrence’s vacant Carnegie Library building.

“The building was given to the city for a specific purpose,” said Mayor David Dunfield at a study meeting Wednesday. “Our charge is to find a use consistent with the reason it was given in the first place.”

The Carnegie Library was built in 1904 with money provided by the Carnegie Corp. Steel baron Andrew Carnegie endowed 1,681 library buildings throughout the world; more than 50 are in Kansas.

The gift came, however, with conditions. The city had to pledge to fund the upkeep of the library and keep it stocked with books to guarantee its place as a center of learning in the city. City commissioners are well aware of the building’s legacy.

“[It should] maximize community use, maximize public use and contribute to the commission goal of building communities,” Commissioner Mike Rundle said.

Carnegie libraries across the country have found a variety of new beginnings. Most are still publicly owned and are used as art museums, historical societies or government offices.

Vincent Spight, who works for Penny Construction in Lawrence, applies paint stripper to the window frames of the former Lawrence Arts Center at Ninth and Vermont streets. Wednesday's renovation work was part of an ongoing process to spruce up the Carnegie building for a new use.

But in some communities the buildings have been sold, leading to slightly less conventional uses. In Winfield, the Carnegie library now houses a dental clinic. Three towns have turned their libraries into dance studios.

Commissioner David Schauner said the building’s legacy and location had to be paramount in the commission’s deliberations.

“It should be consistent with the surrounding structures and buildings, the kinds of uses which draw people downtown,” Schauner said.

Elizabeth Schultz leads a group hoping to continue what she believes is Andrew Carnegie’s legacy.

“We want to focus on the culture of the city as it was and the culture of the city as it is emerging,” she said.

Schultz’s group is hoping to turn the building into the Langston Hughes Center for Community Enrichment. It would provide space for art and computer classes as well as other forms of continuing education. The proposed center would also work against illiteracy.

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“Our goal is to help let all the different groups in Lawrence grow together,” Schultz said.

That plan will compete against eight other proposals, including one from Joan Reiber and Katie Armitage to turn the building into a library once again. This time it would be dedicated entirely to children. Reiber says the children’s section at the Lawrence Public Library is simply too small.

“They only have 5,000 square feet,” Reiber said. “The Carnegie would have at least 10,000 square feet … it would give them a lot more room for activities.”

Reiber says her group’s proposal would best serve Carnegie’s vision by providing youths with a place all their own to discover the joy of books.

“It would make them feel they can act out the stories, that they didn’t have to be quiet,” Reiber said. “Children aren’t like adults.”

During the next several weeks commissioners will evaluate the nine proposals, narrowing the list to three or five finalists.

Commissioners hope to have a final proposal chosen by the first of the year.