While a majority of the Fort Frances Public Library board still agrees the new library should be built as a stand-alone structure, the building committee will conduct a study to try and get a better idea as to how much savings could be realized if the project was built in conjunction with a new Robert Moore School here instead.
The decision was made at the library board’s regular meeting last Wednesday.
Library board chair Joyce Cunningham noted while they had hoped to make a final decision as to whether to pursue the joint project or stick to the original plan to have a stand-alone library, the board passed a motion last Wednesday “to direct the building committee to do a comprehensive feasibility study on the prospect of a joint facility with the Rainy River District School Board and find out how many dollars could be saved by working with the school board.”
Cunningham explained that at the May 21 meeting with education director Jack McMaster and school board chair Dan Belluz, the library board had hoped to learn the specific cost-savings a joint project would realize.
At that time, however, Belluz made it clear that wouldn’t be possible at this stage without the school board retaining an architect in regards to the new Robert Moore School—something the board isn’t planning on doing until at least September.
“Once more, it seems outside forces are indicating there are perceived savings, but nobody will do the work to find out what they might be,” said Cunningham.
“So, therefore, it falls once [again] to the library board and the building committee to do the work,” she added.
Cunningham said the library building committee is expected to consult with project architect John Knox, of Chamberlain Architects, “to nail down some of these perceived savings and, of course, costs”—and come up with a final decision as to whether or not there is any cost savings.
The committee has been directed to present a final report to the library board on Wednesday, June 25.
The committee also will examine the proposed library design at its preferred site—adjacent to the Memorial Sports Centre—to see if there’s any possibility of scaling it down once again to save further costs.
While space needed for a new library first was identified at 17,000 sq. ft. during an initial needs assessment conducted in 2003, plans have since been scaled back to 15,000 sq. ft. within the past year and most recently to 13,770 sq. ft.
Cunningham, meanwhile, said the whole issue of whether or not the library should be built as originally intended or as part of the new Robert Moore School, and the refusal of town council to give the go-ahead to finalize drawings and put the project out to tender, “has led to a great deal of frustration.”
“Many of us on the library board are feeling pretty close to depressed at this point,” she admitted. “What has happened is with the delays that have resulted, we cannot build for at least a year.
“Everybody knows now that we’re entering a period where costs are going to go up significantly,” she warned.
Cunningham said the other issue that’s come up is outsiders keep saying to the library board: “You have only two choices because of costs that are skyrocketing—you can go with the school board and hope that you can save money or you can downsize again.”
“The library board has said, ‘We will not build a new version of the old library,’” Cunningham stressed. “The old library is approximately, 9,000 sq. ft. Our proposal is 13,770.
“We entered this, in large measure, because that building is too small. There’s no point in building a new version of the old library.
“The option, then, is to simply stay where we are,” continued Cunningham. “And although I have been working for 13 years to get a new library, I, personally, would rather stay where we are than build a second-rate facility.
“The citizens of this town deserve better, as do those people who’ve contributed $530,000 to make this work,” she remarked.
Council passed a motion back on April 28 stating the town’s contribution to build a new library would not exceed $592,380 plus the value of a building permit, as opposed to the $1 million-plus needed to meet the current estimated costs of $3.4 million.
The funding shortfall, and the delays to plans since the school-library joint project idea was thrown into the mix, has Mark Kowalchuk, chair of the “Building for the Future” fundraising campaign, concerned the project won’t go ahead at all.
“It’s not looking good right now. I’m quite concerned,” he remarked, adding that even two weeks ago, he was feeling more optimistic than he is now.
Kowalchuk said the campaign’s in line with reaching its goal of $750,000, and there even were plans in the works for a major event this month, but those now are on hold as the future of the project grows increasingly uncertain.
While council has asked the fundraising committee to change its campaign goal and try raise another $500,000 on top of the $750,000 to fund the balance of the cost of the library, Kowalchuk called that idea “ludicrous.”
He said plans for the new library have never assumed the project would be paid for without financial help from the town.
“It’s in dire straits at to whether it’s going to go ahead,” Kowalchuk warned. “So unless council gives a real indication they’re prepared to look at long-term financing—as they have with other projects that have taken place—then I don’t know.
It’s going to be up to them,” he remarked.
“We did what we said we were going to do,” Kowalchuk stressed. “It’s unfortunate some of the grants didn’t come through, but you don’t just kill a project.
“They wouldn’t stop building a road or doing the water tower because grants didn’t come through.”
Kowalchuk said he’d like to see council come forward and endorse the library project—and let the public know it will become a reality.
“That endorsement would be for them to say, ‘We believe in this project and the good it will do four our community, and we are prepared to look at debenturing the cost over a period of time,’” he noted.
“To pull the money out of a single year’s budget is not realistic. You wouldn’t buy a house by saving up all the money. That’s not the way the economy works,” added Kowalchuk.
“Big investments get paid over a period of time.”
With the clock ticking, Kowalchuk said the need for a new library is becoming even more apparent. By 2010, for example, all public-sector organizations will have to meet the accessible customer service standard under Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
But if a new fully-accessible library isn’t built by then, what will the town do to make the necessary upgrades to the current one?
Another example is that the number of computer terminals available for library users is below what is should be at the current library (a situation that would be rectified at the new facility).
“The town is going to lose out. I think the people that are speaking against the library are not looking in that direction. They’re just looking at their tax bill,” charged Kowalchuk.
“To stay in one spot is not an option,” he argued. “We’re going to slip further and further behind other communities that are being proactive to attract new businesses and people.
“It’s not roads and sewers they stay for. It’s the lifestyle.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
