Noted for its ornate portico and rotunda, Chicago's first purpose-built branch library was proposed to City Council for official landmark status today.

Located in the Kenwood community at 4904 S. Lake Park Ave., the Blackstone Library represents the Chicago Public Library's early efforts to serve the needs of an outlying and rapidly growing city neighborhood, according to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, which recommends landmark designations to the Chicago City Council.

"The building has long provided an inspiring setting in which patrons can browse its holdings, read and study," Mayor Richard M. Daley said. "A landmark designation would preserve its unique features for many visitors to come."

Constructed in 1904, the one-story structure was financed by the widow of Chicago philanthropist Timothy Beach Blackstone, who had earlier financed the construction of a library in his home state of Connecticut. A former president of the Chicago & Alton Railroad and first president of the Chicago Union Stockyards, Blackstone's Chicago home was on South Michigan Avenue, today the site of the Blackstone Hotel, also named in his honor.

The library was designed by noted Chicago architect Solon S. Beman with a symmetrical, granite exterior that reflects Classical Greek styling as well as Italian Renaissance themes. Its interior is distinguished by marble surfaces and a dramatic rotunda embellished with four murals by Chicago artist Oliver Dennett Grover.

Today, the library primarily serves residents of the Kenwood and Hyde Park communities. Its holdings include the Hyde Park Historical Collection.

As an official city landmark, the library's exterior elevations, vestibule, rotunda, and original fixtures would be protected from significant alternation or demolition.

Council referred the proposal to committee.