Seeking input on plans for future Sydney library

Library to partner with Harbour Royal Development Ltd. in ‘community engagement plan’

The Cape Breton Regional Library announced on Thursday of last week that it would partner with Harbour Royal Development Ltd. (HRDL) in a “community engagement plan” that would make people aware of what’s being done in preparation of building a new library and to ask for public input, particularly when it comes to library programming.

An application for funding the construction of a library on the Sydney waterfront will be forwarded to government officials by the end of the year, according to the library’s board of directors and real estate firm HRDL heading up the multifaceted project.

A new library community capital fundraising campaign will also be launched in early 2019 to raise its share of building costs.

The library is part of a much larger multi-million-dollar mixed use development on the waterfront that would be constructed between the Holiday Inn and the Sydney Marine Terminal.

Neeta Kumar Britten, chair of the library’s board of directors, said this project presents the “most exciting and promising prospect” for a new central library in the past 10 years when a new site was first identified by the board.

“The community engagement plan is the logical and necessary next step in the process of ensuring this project serves community needs, including Indigenous peoples, now and into the future,” Kumar Britten said.

The plan calls for a number of initiatives over the next several months including a series of town halls, a joint effort among various stakeholder groups, targeted communication and marketing, assembly of a board of distinguished library patrons, and the gathering of input on library programming and design.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality chose a proposal by HRDL after the municipality issued a request for expressions of interest in 2017 for development of its waterfront properties.

The proposal approved by CBRM council in principle includes an integrated, multi-use development that features a public library, apartment tower, commercial office building, marine activity centre, relocation of the Sydney casino and expansion of the Holiday Inn.

The project contractors are Stantec, Trifos Design Consultants, CBCL Engineering and Halifax-based Fairwyn Developments Ltd.

Investors include Membertou First Nation, the Westmont Hospitality Group and Canderel.

HRDL also has the support of Halifax-based marine tour company Ambassatours, which operates the Harbour Hopper in Sydney and is a potential anchor tenant at the planned marine activity complex.

Building a public space such as a library, requires a “fully and substantially informed decision-making process,” said Jim Wooder, HRDL waterfront development project manager.

“While HRDL will assume a lead role in the co-ordination and implementation of a community engagement plan, we recognize the pivotal role of the CBRL and the importance that Membertou has attached to the new library proposal,” he said.

“We see the need for a steering committee to guide this community-centred work to include representatives from CBRL, Membertou and possibly others.”