Building a new downtown library a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity, councillor says

City council's rep on the Saskatoon Public Library (SPL) board is defending the plan for a $154-million downtown library branch, calling it a "once in a lifetime, multiple-generation" opportunity. 

Hilary Gough, councillor for Ward 2, spoke to CBC's Saskatoon Morning earlier this week after a fellow city councillor, Ward 4's Troy Davies, questioned the project's price tag and signalled his intent to delay a key vote on the project. 

SPL wants to borrow up to $87.5 million from the city, but city council still needs to approve that loan in a vote expected to take place at Budget 2020 talks, which launch on Nov. 25.

Among Davies' concerns is the size of the proposed new library, which would nearly double the footprint of the aging and out-of-code Frances Morrison Central Library.  

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"The current library downtown is going on 60 years and it shows," Gough said. "And there have been library boards and councils talking about a new central library for quite literally decades." 

She said the design of the new proposal came via a "rigourous business planning process."

"It started with tons of public consultation, asking current and not current patrons what they'd like to see in a new central library, what their priorities are and working out from there," she said.

'These projections are conservative' 

If councillors vote in favour of the loan, Gough said it will take about two years to come up with a full design for the building. 

Darren Hill, councillor for Ward 1, has said it will be difficult for him to vote on the loan issue without such designs in hand.

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But Gough said it would be "irresponsible" to design a building "not knowing if we have the money to build it."  

Gough said it's right for people to be concerned about the price tag, but echoed a clarification previously provided by SPL CEO Carol Cooley stating that the $154 million budget is set in 2026 dollars (the year the new library is expected to open) and contains a 25-per-cent contingency. 

"These projections are conservative," Gough said. 

Borrowing may not reach $87.5M

Gough said the price tag will likely go down as the project gets closer to construction. Therefore, the library will not necessarily have to borrow the full $87.5 million from the city. 

SPL will also make money from the sale of the Frances Morrison branch land at the corner of 23rd Street and 4th Avenue S, she said.

"We could sell our building for more than we've projected," Gough said. "That's very likely, by the time five or six years have passed and we're ready to vacate that building."

Here are four other key points Gough made:

The library board intentionally didn't lowball

"We could have taken a different approach. We could have come in and said we only need, you know, $108 million and we only need to borrow $65 million or whatever," Gough said.

"What I can tell you would've happened is that we would have been back in front of council saying, 'Hey, our projections weren't quite there. We need a little bit more.' And we'd all be having this conversation multiple times over." 

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There's a down payment already

SPL has saved up approximately $13 million in a new-library reserve fund over the past decade or so. That's projected to reach $46 million by 2026 — nearly a third of the current price tag. That money will be used to help pay back the city loan. 

"I've had a few people say to me, 'We need to spend more on policing or we need to spend more on this and that,'" Gough said. "It's important to know that [the money borrowed from the city] won't compete with city operating dollars like policing."

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Some community issues can't be resolved by policing 

"They need to be resolved by investing in our community upfront. And all of the things that libraries are meant to provide — early learning, digital literacy, access to information — they help in needing less of that reactionary operations [money] that the city provides a lot of later on." 

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The public will get a hand in designing the new library

"That process is going to be really participatory. So depending on how we figure out the design of this, how we procure the project, residents will absolutely be asked to be a part of that process. And we're really excited to have even more in-depth conversations with residents about what they want for that building."

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