CBRM council to look at old courthouse in 15-year quest for new library

Cape Breton Regional Municipality's 15-year search for a new library in Sydney, N.S., could be over soon if an old courthouse proves to be a viable option.

Council voted on Tuesday to study the old courthouse building on Crescent Street next to Wentworth Park to see if it can be renovated and expanded at a reasonable cost.

Mayor Amanda McDougall said the study needs to be done right away so council can include library funding in the next municipal budget and apply for federal and provincial grants.

"We don't want to miss another year of potential funding for a library because we're spinning ourselves in circles," she said.

A couple of councillors expressed a preference for a new building, something that had previously been under consideration, and one worried that council was essentially committing itself to making the courthouse work.

But the mayor said that's not true.

"This is a possible option," McDougall said. "This is not necessarily set in stone as the option, but if we don't get an application in to see if there's even money available for it, we've lost yet another year."

McDougall had called for public consultations on two options last fall. One was to buy and renovate the courthouse and the other was to renovate the existing McConnell Memorial Library building on Falmouth Street.

But Mike Targett, the municipality's community consultation co-ordinator, said it is too soon to ask the public for input.

He told council on Tuesday that renovating the existing building has been rejected four times during studies over the last 15 years.

Targett also said the 60-year-old courthouse building, which currently houses a few federal government offices, would need to be renovated and expanded and it's not yet clear whether that's even possible or what the potential cost might be.

If a new study shows the building can accommodate renovations and expansion and if there are other grants available, the municipality could start work on a new library next year and open it in 2025, he said.

On Tuesday, McDougall apologized to council for the latest delay, but said it is full steam ahead now.

In an interview, she said the courthouse fulfils all of the community's criteria for a new library. Council just needs to see how much it could cost and determine if there's funding available for it.

"I am not going to be the mayor that sits around kicking this ball having no action come out," McDougall said. "This has been far too long."

Coun. Eldon MacDonald, whose district includes the library and who chairs the library's board of directors, said it feels like council has now made the old courthouse its preferred option.

The library should be in a new building, he said.

Examining the courthouse is a delay, but he voted in favour of the study and is keeping an open mind, MacDonald said.

"I don't want to waste taxpayers' money to find out that we studied a building that's not going to be adequate, but how do you know if it's adequate if you don't have a look at it?"

The library board has decided it needs 45,000 square feet of space to accommodate all of its needs, including space for books, administration and activities.

The existing building is 22,000 square feet and the old courthouse is 33,000.

MacDonald said CBRM owns property at the corner of Prince and George streets, where it could acquire some neighbouring properties and build a new library.

Delays are simply driving up the eventual cost of a new library.

"There's huge expenses for us to sit and wait," he said. "It's going to cost us millions and millions and millions of dollars."

For example, he said, the Baddeck library was looking at a $250,000 project last year, but the costs have ballooned by nearly $1 million more since then.

Coun. Lorne Green agreed, saying council is wasting time and should just look elsewhere for space to build a brand new library from scratch.

He said he made up his mind after a tour of the old courthouse.

"I don't think it's a suitable building," he said.

He said there's land available in Open Hearth Park. It's not in the downtown core, but the city will grow and it's a central location with no transportation obstacles.

"I'm here two years and it's too long for me that we haven't made a decision to put the shovel in the ground to start a new library," Green said.

Renovations more sustainable than new build

McDougall said previous studies emphasized the library should be located downtown and there is no other land available right now.

"This right now is a beautiful option in my personal purview," she said.

"It has parking. It's on a transit route. There's greenspace. It's connected to the downtown that is ever growing every single day."

The mayor also said building sustainable communities also means renovating first, before tearing down and building brand new.

Pat Bates, chair of a citizens committee that has been advocating for a new library for more than a decade, said he is pleased that concrete action is being taken, but concerned about more delays.

"I came across a paper the other day when I was doing some of my review work that the deficiencies in the McConnell library were noted in 2002," he said.

"So we're really 20 years now into the process and each year in which it's delayed, of course you have an increase in costs."

The estimated cost of building a new library in 2017 was $26 million, but it's now up over $32 million. CBRM may have to trim some of its wishes for a new building to make it affordable, Bates said.

A new study will help guide that process, he said.

"The work that was outlined this morning, I think it's essential. [But] I think they have to streamline the pace of that a little."

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