It’s time for a central library discussion

When members of the Ottawa Public Library board meet Monday, chairwoman Jan Harder will ask them to take a major step in dealing with the dismal central library: the Barrhaven council- lor will argue that the board start looking for a private partner with which to build a brand new library.

A long-awaited report from Ajon Moriyama Architect outlining the costs of updating the much-maligned library at Laurier and Metcalfe has finally been released — and the fixes aren’t cheap. To cut to the chase, getting the place even close to what’s needed for a modern library — one that’s more user-friendly, has more public programming spaces, up-to-date technology and better children’s area — will cost a minimum of $70 million.

At that price tag, we must consider building new. And Jan Harder is just the woman to get it done. “If the Walter Baker Centre here in Barrhaven was a completely challenged building, if it wasn’t accessible, if it had escalators going only one way and had no sprinklers, do you think we’d sit by and do nothing about it?” said Harder. “I don’t think so.”

Her plan? Go out to the private sector to see what interest there is in partnering with the city to build a great new facility.

“We need to know what all our options are,” the councillor said. “Is there a more cost-effective solution with a private partner somewhere in the city? People are already planning to build things in the urban core near transit. I think this will open the door to opportunity.”

The status quo for the library is not an option. The 40-yearold eyesore has undergone only minor renovations over its lifespan, so there are structural elements that need to be addressed — such as the heating and electrical systems — to say nothing of the massive functional shortcomings of the building, including lack of study areas, public reading rooms or community spaces. You can’t get smartphone reception or Wi-Fi in many parts of the dispiriting concrete structure. The most basic coffee shop addresses the needs of a modern, urban society better than our main public library branch.

No one knows this more than the 16,000 people who walk through the doors of that library every week. Even though it’s a dump, it’s still the most used branch in the city. Imagine how popular it would be if it were actually inviting.

The people of Ottawa can imagine it. They’ve responded to the city’s research (including professional polling), and residents have said they’re willing to give up some space for physical collections for more public programming and personal study areas, places where people can gather as well as work independently. That’s why the Ottawa public library now believes it needs just 130,000 square feet of space instead of the 345,000 feet it was asking for in the failed 2008 attempt at building a new main branch. (The current library has just 81,000 square feet of usable space.)

“We’ve never had so much information to base a decision on,” said Harder, saying the library has been systematic in finding out what the city’s needs are and the condition of the existing building.

The Toronto-based architectural firm was asked to cost out three options.

Option 1, or “renewal,” is basically fixing the HVAC system and throwing a coat of paint on the place. It would do little to address the improvements that the people of Ottawa say they want at the main branch. Still, it would cost $40 million.

Option 2 calls for a little more renovation, with 6,170 square feet of additional space and some improvements to the building’s brutalist façade. But even at $50 million, this plan wouldn’t meet the library’s requirements for teenage common area and reading spaces, newcomer services or meeting rooms and public spaces. These are the very character-

People are … planning to build things in the urban core near transit. I think this will open the door to opportunity.

JAN HARDER

istics that people said they want in a modern library.

The $70-million Option 3, which comes the closest, effectively calls for stripping the place down to its shell and rebuilding. Two new glass façades would bring welcome natural light into the building. “Architecturally, it has the potential of becoming a world-class destination benefiting from its prominent location,” according to Ajon Moriyama Architect’s June 25 report.

“In my mind, there’s no other option other than Option 3,” Harder said. “The other options don’t even meet our needs today, let alone for the library of the future.”

But Harder, a longtime advocate for public libraries, believes the $70-million price is a nonstarter.

“I’m just not sure that’s the wisest expenditure of taxpayer dollars in this location,” Harder said. She points out that, in 20 years, the ownership of the entire property at Laurier and Metcalfe will revert to the city, at which time the city could sell the land or redevelop it in another way.

Harder is right. At $70 million — and likely more, as this is a basic estimate that can be off by as much as 30 per cent — this city must start a serious discussion about the possibility of building a new library.

Consider the new central library in Halifax scheduled to open later this year (and already named by CNN as one of 2014’s most “eye-popping” new buildings): the cost for the new building is about $58 million. Although at 108,000 square feet, the East Coast library is slightly smaller than the 130,000 we’re looking for here in Ottawa, the build-from-scratch project is also costing significantly less than the estimate to rebuild ours.

There are those who will balk at the idea of a possible private partnership to build a new library. That’s a discussion worth having. But it’s more important that we do something about the eyesore that is the downtown central library. And Monday is the day to restart that debate.