Library patrons could be forgiven for momentarily thinking they’d walked into a chic new hotel upon stepping foot into the new Cleveland Park Library.

Natural light floods the entryway, a generous space filled with the kind of cozy, high back armchairs that are au courant both right now and during the mid-century era when the original building was erected.

It’s not a coincidence.

This is the D.C. Public Library’s nineteenth major modernization project, breathing new life into neighborhood libraries across the city, but it is the first time the system took on the task of building a new structure within the confines of a historic district.

“It is no surprise that we use materials on the outside like limestone and buff bricks and glass and wood, which are the vernacular at places like the Uptown Theater and the post office and these other iconic buildings in Cleveland park,” says D.C. Public Library executive director Richard Reyes-Gavilan.

The neighborhood is on both the National Register of Historic Places and the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites, meaning that construction in the area is evaluated for its effect on the historic character.

“We were challenged to build a building that was at once bold and iconic, but at the same time respectful of the historic district,” says Reyes-Gavilan. “The architects did a phenomenal job in satisfying that almost impossible desire to create something new and improved, yet old-fashioned.”

Discerning visitors will see old meeting new in nearly every nook and cranny. Vintage-inspired clocks adorn the walls. Orange carpet that wouldn’t be out of place on Mad Men lines the study rooms. The stairway is lined with thin wood railings that you’d expect to see in Architectural Digest. Even the furniture in the children’s room looks like Florence Knoll designed it herself.

Officials also took care to bring back artifacts from the original building. Among them are glass panels and a sculpture of a blue cat that depict the work of children’s author Catherine Cate Coblentz, who was instrumental in getting the library built. In one of several outdoor spaces, visitors will also find a recently refurbished panda sculpture, granite plaques, and a bench that are also making a return.

“Throughout a very, very deliberative design process, not only did we land on the sorts of materials, but we also wanted to make sure we kept some of the iconic art and features of the old building, says Reyes-Gavilan.

While the library director has overseen multiple library modernization projects since his tenure began in 2014—the dramatic Woodridge branch among them—this was the first he developed from the very start to finish.

Few details escape Reyes-Gavilan’s notice. On a tour this week, he stands overlooking the two-story atrium and pauses mid-conversation to ask a colleague how employees would be able to dust the top of the tall wood structures that frame the first floor windows.

Reyes-Gavilan also points to the unusual phrasing of the branch name behind the information desk: Public Library D.C. Cleveland Park Branch.

“Even in the weird syntax that you see there, that was done by design because that is how it was outside the old library,” he says. “We wouldn’t say things like that nowadays, but again, we wanted that nod to the old building.”

Speaking of the original branch, “it was old, dark, and dingy—and always well-loved,” says Patricia Roberts, who lives a few blocks away.

Before the Cleveland Park branch closed in the fall of 2016 to be rebuilt, it was frequently the most-visited library in the system after the flagship Martin Luther King Jr. Library (which is currently in the midst of its own major renovation project), according to DCPL spokesman George Williams. At around 27,000-square feet, the new building is now the largest neighborhood library in the system.

The plans accommodate what residents said is a dire need for more meeting space in the neighborhood. A community room can hold upward of 200 people at once—double that of the biggest space in any other neighborhood library—or it can be divided to host two events at once. A basement meeting room can similarly accomodate a large crowd of 105 people, or easily become two separate spaces.

“I think back to all of our design meetings, and the community is so engaged for everything that the room was always too small,” Reyes-Gavilan recalls. In this new space, “we have an embarrassment of riches.”

Library officials say they expect upwards of 1,000 people to visit tomorrow for the library’s official opening. Mayor Muriel Bowser will be in attendance, along with Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, Chairman Phil Mendelson, and At-large councilmember David Grosso, to do the honors at 10:30 a.m.

“Everyone is excited about the new library,” Roberts told DCist after peering through the front doors to get a peek of what’s to come. “I think the whole neighborhood is looking forward to it.”