Sydney library discussions ongoing
Local residents interested in helping to write the next chapter in the story of the Sydney library are invited to join the conversation at a public meeting next week at city hall.
Presented by the CBRL Library – A New Chapter advocacy group, the meeting will include a debrief of a fact-finding mission that its members recently conducted on visits to the new libraries in Halifax and Truro.
The collaborative, comprised of the Cape Breton Partnership, Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Sydney Waterfront District Association and the Municipality of the County of Victoria, has scheduled the public meeting for 4 p.m. on Thursday in the community room (back, lower level) of the municipal building.
Meanwhile, CBRM council has been encouraged to start the application process to secure federal and provincial funding for the project that would cost anywhere from $18 million for a retrofitted building of 40,000 square feet to $28 million for a new, standalone, contemporary library of similar size.
“It’s anticipated from the original study and from work that has been done lately that the amount of funding from CBRM would be of a possible value of $3 million for the land and a capital contribution of $4 million,” said CBRM economic development officer John Phalen, who added the land value would have to be third-party assessed to determine its market value.
He said that with that contribution the CBRM could leverage up to $18 million of capital funding plus land costs.
Following Phalen’s latest presentation to council on Tuesday, the municipality’s elected representatives once again expressed their concern about where the cash-strapped CBRM would get the money for the undertaking.
“I want this project, this is something we are responsible for, but we know we have other things outstanding — we got other things in the hopper that aren’t paid from last year,” said District 10 councillor Darren Bruckschwaiger.
“The roads and sidewalks are falling apart, people are tripping, we got numerous cases that went against us this year, more so than ever, from sidewalks and we know that we got to do some of that work.”
However, Mayor Cecil Clarke echoed CBRM chief administrative officer Marie Walsh’s sentiments in stating that applying for funding doesn’t commit the municipality to anything.
“There is a window of opportunity for us to apply,” said Clarke. “With a federal election coming in the fall of next year it means that any time after May or June there won’t be any federal announcements, so if you don’t have an application in the system there is no way to know if it can be potentially funded.”