County councillors learned at their meeting in April the Elora library will likely be re-opening on June 19 and work was moving forward for the renovation of the Mount Forest library.
Library committee chairman Brad Whitcombe told council the Elora branch renovations are nearing completion and he expected tenders would soon be issued for work at the Mount Forest branch.
Both libraries are Carnegie libraries, which means they were built through donations to those communities nearly 100 years ago by industrialist-turned-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who spent millions building public libraries all over North America and Europe.
Wellington Chief Librarian Janice Hindley said in an interview earlier this week that the tenders for the Mount Forest library were mailed either last week or will go out this week. Nearly a dozen contractors were pre-qualified to bid for the work, which is expected to begin in July after being approved by county council in June.
Architect Lloyd Grinham, of L. Alan Grinham Architects of Guelph, made a presentation to county council about the Mount Forest plans.
He explained that because the Mount Forest branch is a Carnegie library, the firm “took a similar approach to Elora” where the heritage was respected and the renovations were planned to match the building style as much as possible.
He said the Mount Forest branch will have barrier-free access for the entire building, the architect was trying to build a number of energy efficiencies into the design to ease the maintenance costs, and workers would do renovation work inside and heritage preservation work on the outside.
The building is 4,300 square feet, and there will be Main Street access, with two barrier-free access parking spaces made available. The elevator will serve all three floors of the building, similar to the one being installed in Elora
The addition will be just over 3,000 square feet, thus almost doubling the size of the building.
Grinham said there will be an expanded children’s collection, and it will be relocated to the addition. He said the lines of sight in the building would be addressed, there would be expanded storage, and the washrooms would be bigger.
He quipped the plan is to “keep a bit of a heritage washroom in the front. A collectible.”
He said the plan is to have the addition “blend in as much as possible … to fit in with the existing building. That theme will be carried through to the inside.” He cited a stamped tin ceiling, and said the plan is to mirror that work.
“I hope you get a nice, coherent building that you can use for the next 100 years.”
He said the work is scheduled to be done by late September.
County councillor and Wellington North Mayor Mike Broomhead was pleased with the plans. He said the library is “a magnificent structure in a beautiful part of town” and the renovations will “enhance the area.”
Broomhead said there were some concerns about protecting the heritage of the building, but he is pleased with the drawings Grinham had displayed.
“To have a building like this is absolutely magnificent,” he said. “It enhances the community and shows well for the County of Wellington.”
There had been some delays in the Elora branch. The elevator, in particular, took some time to arrive and coordinate with the rest of the construction work.
Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj said there are some backlogs of such equipment up to 32 months, so working ahead is necessary.
She told county council the Elora branch grand opening will be June 19.
In other library News, the library board received a letter of congratulations from the Arthur Chamber of Commerce for the new Arthur library that opened earlier this year.
