Expansion pegged at $7M

Report on proposed Peterborough Public Library renovations going to city council Monday for possible inclusion in future city budgets

A plan for an estimated $7million renovation and expansion of the Peterborough Public Library will be presented to city council Monday — with the recommendation that it be used to “guide future budget decisions.”

Council, sitting as committee of the whole, will be asked to approve the plan “as a guiding principle to address current and future space needs.”

There’s no request for funding at this point, but staff want council to commit to using the plan to guide future budget decisions.

Funding will be considered as part of the city’s formal budget process subject to the corporation’s priorities and the availability of external funding, staff state.

The proposal for a renovation and expansion of the museum stems from a recently completed, $90,000 study of the future space needs for the library.

A consultant will present the findings from the study to council on Monday.

The main library branch layout maximizes use of available space, but there is no space for new services, enhancing the collection or for new staff initiatives, community services director Ken Doherty states in a report.

“The greatest needs identified Follow live coverage, community chat during Monday’s city council meeting

starting at 5 p.m. are consistently: dedicated facilities for youth, specific design that accommodate seniors, additional computer access and training opportunities, segregated program space, and greater physical accessibility,” he states.

“The best way to address these needs is to first strengthen the main library, and then, at some appropriate later date, expand the branch system.”

The consultant reviewed several options. The library board endorsed an option that would focus improvements on the main library branch on Aylmer St. before turning to the smaller neighbourhood branches.

The key to expanding the public portion of the main library branch is to better exploit the lower level, Lundholm Associates states in the feasibility study that’s dated June 24.

“The concept that has emerged is based on converting the west part of the lower level to public use, interconnecting the two library levels, and building a three-level addition at the Bethune St. side,” the consulting firm states.

Lundholm Associates recommends a project budget of about $7 million.

A new library with comparable floor space would cost about $19.7 million, it estimates.

The main library building opened in 1980. The De La Fosse branch on Park St. opened in 1965.

NOTE: The public portion of the committee of the whole meeting starts at 6:45 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 500 George St. N.