THUNDER BAY — A second attempt to locate a branch of the Thunder Bay Public Library at Intercity Shopping Centre has failed.
Thunder Bay city council voted 8 to 5 late Monday night to reject a bid to have the TBPL take over the the space currently occupied by Sport Chek, which is relocating to another part of the mall.
The proposal also would have seen the closure of the library branch at County Fair Mall.
Last year, city council also turned down the TBPL's request to locate a central library in the space at Intercity Shopping Centre formerly occupied by Lowe's.
The new, scaled-down plan would have seen the owners of the mall cover 25 per cent of the $5.5 million cost of renovations, with the library and the city splitting the remainder.
Richard Togman, the CEO of the TBPL, suggested the city use the money it has already allocated for library development purposes.
He said that, potentially, for $700,000 in new costs the city would get a new 24,000 square-foot library in the heart of the city, creating a 30 per cent increase in total library space.
Some council members said they had heard from users of the County Fair branch who were opposed to the shutdown of that facility.
Others expressed concern about the cost implications.
Because the proposal required an amendment to TBPL's initial plan for a central library in the Intercity Shopping Centre, its passage required the approval of nine members of council.
