Editing Lakewood, Washington (section)

==Arts and culture==

Local sites include:<ref name="FactSheet-2023"/>
* [[Fort Steilacoom]], a historic army fort.
* [[Lakewold Gardens]], an estate garden.
* [[Lakewood Towne Center]], a shopping center.
* [[Lakewood Playhouse]], a theater founded in 1938.
* [[Thornewood]], a historic estate.

===Library===

Lakewood is served by the [[Pierce County Library System]], which has operated a [[public library]] in the area since it was annexed in 1996.<ref>{{cite web |title=Library History |url=https://mypcls.org/about-us/library-history/ |publisher=[[Pierce County Library System]] |accessdate=March 12, 2025}}</ref> An earlier library had been established in the community in February 1947 at a hobby shop in the Clover Park Shopping Center.<ref name="TNT-Library1963">{{cite news |last=Felker |first=Helen |date=August 4, 1963 |title=Lakes Residents Express Pride In New Tenzler Branch Library |page=D11 |work=The News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune-lakes-residents-express/167844821/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=March 12, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Gazette-Library">{{Cite news |last=Covert |first=Nancy |date=2013 |title=Lakewood Library Celebrates Half a Century |pages=1–3 |url=https://www.lakewoodhistorical.org/media/dynamic/docs/Summer_2013.pdf |work=Prairie Gazette |publisher=Lakewood Historical Society |access-date=March 12, 2025}}</ref> It moved between various buildings, including the basement of a local school, while funds were collected by the Friends of the Lakes District Library for a permanent building.<ref name="Gazette-Library"/> The Flora B. Tenzler Memorial Library opened on August 1, 1963, with donations from the Tenzler Foundation to cover the cost of construction and furnishings.<ref name="TNT-Library1963"/>

The Tenzler Library was expanded in 1974 with additional funds from the foundation and renamed to the Lakewood Library in 1982.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lakewood Pierce County Library Timeline |url=https://mypcls.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lakewood-library-building.pdf |publisher=Pierce County Library System |accessdate=March 12, 2025}}</ref> The Pierce County Library System closed the branch in June 2022 after several building inspections had found substantial roof damage that would cost an estimated $22 million to repair. The Lakewood location had been one of the most-used in Pierce County prior to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Peterson |first=Josephine |date=May 11, 2022 |title=Well-used Pierce County library to close due to leaky roof. Where will it relocate? |url=https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article261322032.html |work=The News Tribune |accessdate=March 12, 2025}}</ref> An interim Lakewood location opened in September 2024 after two years of lease negotiations; it cost $9.5 million to construct and includes {{convert|75,000|sqft|sqm}} of interior space. A permanent replacement is planned to be rebuilt on the same site as the original Lakewood Library at an unspecified date.<ref>{{cite news |last=Most |first=Becca |date=September 13, 2024 |title=After more than two years and $9.5 million, new Pierce County library opens this week |url=https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article292069825.html |work=The News Tribune |accessdate=March 12, 2025}}</ref>