The Heart of the City Festival kicked off Wednesday night with a tribute to the Carnegie, which opened its doors as a community centre 40 years ago. The Carnegie was completed in 1903 and initially used as public library, and then as the Vancouver Museum. But by the 1970s the building had fallen into disuse and was being considered for redevelopment as a restaurant, recalled Libby Davies, a longtime advocate for the Downtown Eastside and a former NDP MP.