The Carnegie Library in Mt. Vernon Square. Photo by andertho.

Looks like Mount Vernon Square is getting a major overhaul: Events DC announced today plans to redevelop the Carnegie Library and move the International Spy Museum into the building.

According to a press release, Events DC and the Malrite Company, the Cleveland-based company that owns the Spy Museum, want to revamp Mount Vernon Square, renovate the Carnegie Library, and relocate the Spy Museum from its 800 F Street NW headquarters into the Library’s building. The project would add an estimated 58,000 square feet of new space to the Library, which, in addition to the Spy Museum, would include a new visitor’s center and a complete renovation of the Historical Society of Washington’s galleries and offices.

The proposed development includes 40,000-square-feet of new underground space below the Library for SPY, creating large flexible exhibit areas for the Museum. The interior of the Library would be renovated to enhance special event uses for both Events DC and SPY, and the addition of a sculpted glass pavilion on the north side of the Library would house the Visitors Center, a new café, and the Museum’s retail store. Proposed site improvements to the Mt. Vernon Square grounds include outdoor seating, a small amphitheater and a playground to create various programming options and other green space public amenities.

Additionally, with the Spy Museum’s move to Carnegie Library, the Malrite Company’s owners, The Maltz Family, announced they’ll “gift SPY to the community as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.” Once the project is completed, Events DC will still maintain the building, including the library, but the Spy Museum will be the primary tenant, the release states.

The project already has Mayor Vince Gray’s blessing, who says that “we are excited about the possibility of relocating the International Spy Museum to the Carnegie Library” and that he “[applauds] Events DC and the Malrite Company for developing a public-private partnership that will revive and preserve this important historic asset while also strengthening the District of Columbia’s travel and tourism industry.”

The project hopes to break ground in 2015, with a new, revamped Carnegie Library and International Spy Museum reopening in 2017. Until then, the Spy Museum will remain open at its F Street location.