Committee backs new Sydney library
Group plans to gather public input
A new ad-hoc committee will be working with the Cape Breton Regional Library and developer Harbour Royal Development
Ltd. to support the construction of a new public library in Sydney.
The Cape
Breton Partnership, Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Sydney Waterfront District Association, along with Victoria County, will be working in “building awareness, understanding and support” of construction for the library as part of a multi-phase commercial and residential project on the Sydney waterfront.
This new committee plans to host meetings to gather input from the public ahead of the construction phase of the library project.
“The extent to which the communities of Cape Breton and Victoria counties understand and engage this project will impact how we address the challenges ahead. We believe advocacy is an important role to be filled at this time,” Cape Breton Partnership CEO Carla Arsenault said in a release.
Earlier this month, the regional library said it plans to work with Harbour Royal Development Ltd. in developing a community engagement plan.
The purpose would be to 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.
A new library community capital fundraising campaign will also be launched in early 2019 to raise its share of building costs.
The proposal approved by Cape Breton Regional Municipality council in principle includes an integrated, multiuse development that features a new library, an apartment tower, a commercial office building, a marine activity centre, the relocation of the Sydney casino and the expansion of the Holiday Inn, all constructed on a four-acre site between the hotel and the Sydney Marine Terminal.