Architect John Stephenson revealed some impressive drawings for the library at a public meeting last night, but said he and the library board have yet to find a suitable location to build.
“We’re still struggling with location,” Stephenson said to the 22 people assembled upstairs at the Fort Frances Museum last night.
“Any suggestions at this point would be useful.”^Stephenson showed two sets of drawings for the new library: one involving a two-storey structure, which is the expansion and renovation option, and another, entirely new one-storey building.
The expansion and renovation option would mean making use of the Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) lands located behind the Land Titles building, between the Fort Frances Clinic and the courthouse.
“The ORC land is awkward because of the existing Land Titles building. We’ve talked about acquiring that building,” Stephenson said, adding that this option was theoretical at this point.
If acquired, the ORC land could be used either as a parking lot for a renovated and expanded library, or as the location of a brand new library.
Stephenson pointed out that, if the board decided to go with the renovation and expansion option, the library would have to be close for 10 months to a year to make changes to the existing building.
“Even the existing building will need renovations. The entire heating and cooling systems will have to be taken out. The same goes for the wiring. What you’re looking at is going back to the shell of the building: the wall, windows, and roof. Those are sound,” he said.
The land where the old Fort Frances High School stands is also problematic.
A tentative agreement regarding the site includes plans for Stratton Equipment to demolish the oldest part of the building in the middle, and leave the three newer blocks intact.
The library could take up residence in one of the remaining blocks, but “you’d have to gut it and retrofit it,” Stephenson said, adding that “the library, and the town, does not want to be a tenant.”^Other properties that were considered for a new library were the Alexander MacKenzie School, Sixth Street School, a location on Central Avenue, and one on the waterfront.
But each location has its own problems.
For instance, the Central Avenue and waterfront locations were deemed too small, unless the new library were made into a twostorey building, while the Sixth Street School property was considered too far from the centre of town.
In a closed meeting following the public discussion, the board narrowed down their options to the Alexander MacKenzie School property, and a Front Street site near the new condominiums.
“The Front St. property is second because it would require a twostorey building,” chief librarian Margaret Sedgwick said. “We prefer a one-storey because of staffing efficiencies.”^The board will also be looking into the Central Avenue property owned by Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., located beside the Fort Frances Times.
The expected cost for a brand new library is $3,539,960, while the projected cost for renovating and expanding the existing one is $2,700,655, including $1,046,760 in renovations to the existing structure.
These estimates do not include land costs.
The next step is to finalize their report with a recommended size, a proposed budget, and suggestions on where the funding will come from.
Stephenson will present the final report to town council at the end of August.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
