THUNDER BAY – The plan for a centralized library at Intercity Shopping Centre that could have cost up to $20.8-million has been rejected by city council.
At Monday night's city council meeting, CEO Richard Togman pleaded his case for a centralized location at Intercity Shopping Centre, but to no avail.
“Our buildings are exclusively designed to house books, but we need programming, children’s play areas, youth zones.”
The need is for working families, youth, seniors, low-income households and Indigenous residents, he said.
“We need to make that choice instead of crossing our fingers and hoping the status quo does the trick.”
Togman said they have received 56 letters of support from community organizations.
“If you had to give one struggling parent, one lonely senior or one Indigenous youth a place to go, would it not be the new central library?”
City manager John Collin disputed Togman's financial estimates in making his case against the controversial proposal.
“The CEO mentioned in his verbal remarks that the operating costs will closely approximate the status quo. That is simply inaccurate.
“We will see interest payments on the debt of $5.5 million, common costs within the lease can and most probably will increase over the period of the lease. We have lost tax revenue to the tune of approximately $220,000 a year. It is not status quo in terms of operating costs,” he said.
Despite the rejection, many councillors praised the work put into the plan and the service the library provides.
At-large Coun. Mark Bentz called it an intriguing plan.
“But it comes with a whole host of things that we have to consider around this table, which have been highlighted in this post session and in open session here.”
Bentz, who chairs the finance committee, said the CEO has done great things for the library in terms of reaching out and increasing the profile of the library regardless of council's decision.
Coun. Kasey Etreni thanked Togman for all of the hard work on this project.
Etreni said some members of the community have reached out to her in regards to the survey the Thunder Bay Public Library put out.
“I was told there wasn’t a question on the survey that indicated ‘are you in support of the library’ – yes, or no?”
Togman said they did not include a yes or no question on the non-scientific poll, as it was not as accurate a collection. Instead they asked the public how much they would be willing to pay extra on their taxes.
Coun. Shelby Ch’ng said she has been a library supporter since Day 1.
Ch’ng said many people are concerned the cost has risen too much.
“There is a certain level of discomfort investing into a space that we don’t own,” she said.
Only Coun. Trevor Giertuga voted against scrapping the central library plan, although Coun. Andrew Foulds was not in attendance.
After the meeting, Togman told Dougall Media that he will focus on the future.
"It would have been amazing to have a new central library branch situated at the heart of our community," he said.
"The work ahead of us is to look at our current buildings and infrastructure to see how we can do better and really maximize what we have right now."
With files from Sheri Leviski-Kotyk, CKPR Radio
