The 21st Century Library and Heritage Plaza Arboretum is a major civic project designed to update aging public infrastructure and help revitalize Hayward’s downtown.  The new library includes a open garden terrace with views of the arboretum’s canopy and a living green wall in the childrens reading garden.   The old library within the plaza will be removed and replaced by a large event meadow.  The lower basement level of the old library will be repurposed as a rainwater cistern used for builidng flushing, irrigation and fire water.