Following up on talks initiated last month, the local public school board and library board will meet again tonight to further discuss possible cost-savings through a new shared library facility.
The two boards will meet at 7 p.m. in the Rainy River District School Board’s meeting room at Robert Moore School.
The meeting, set for 7 p.m. in the Rainy River District School Board’s meeting room at Robert Moore School, is being held after the library board passed a motion April 30 stating its preference for building a stand-alone facility—unless the school board can demonstrate considerable cost-savings for the library through shared space.
Also at that time, the library board drafted a letter to send to the school board to request a meeting with them to hear more of their proposal regarding shared facilities—and particularly if they could identify cost-savings.
Since then, the school board has prepared some information to share with the library board tonight, Education Director Jack McMaster said yesterday.
“We’re a few months away from having an architect, so for us to come up with absolute specifics is not possible,” McMaster noted. “But we do have some concepts that we’ll present [tonight].
“I think it will pique their interest.”
Library board chair Joyce Cunningham admitted yesterday that she and the rest of the library board remain a bit skeptical prior to tonight’s meeting.
“[On April 30], we had our special meeting, and at that meeting, we looked at costs, in great detail, and the advantages and disadvantages . . . from a cost point of view and from a program point of view,” she noted.
“We came to the decision that we could not see any cost advantages to having a joint facility.
“We set up this meeting to hear their proposal as to whether or not they have found cost savings,” Cunningham added. “Any cost savings, of course, would have to take into account the money that we have already spent for site preparation, lawyers’ fees, et cetera.”
So far, this totals about $250,000.
Cunningham said the library board has a regularly-scheduled meeting on May 28, and by that time would like to have some sort of resolution once and for all as to the validity of the proposed joint project.
Also at that time, the library board is expected to further discuss what will happen this year, if anything at all, with plans for the new library project.
“At the May 28 meeting, we’ll definitely be looking at the whole long-range plan,” said Cunningham. “I think the writing is on the wall, and I don’t think anybody believes it can be done this year.”
She noted that last month, council tabled a proposal from the library board to have the project architect finalize drawings of a new library to be built at the site next to the Memorial Sports Centre.
“The whole process has been delayed so long this year, that, personally, I do not see how it can go ahead,” she admitted. “But that will be the discussion that will finally be determined on May 28.”
Cunningham lamented this delay will mean increased costs to the library project, which already has a price tag around $3.9 million.
“I’m really quite discouraged at this point,” she said. “We’ve been going around in circles and, unfortunately, all of that is costing money.”
Fort Frances Times
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