At this week’s municipal council meeting, Bowen Island Library’s chief librarian, Tina Nielson, presented draft plans for expanding the Bowen Island Library, and asked for council’s approval on the project. Council, however, was split on the issue with Mayor Adelaar stating his belief that spending the money on a library expansion may be premature, given the possibility that the library may have access to a whole new space once a community centre is built.
The library’s planned expansion is known as the Annie Laurie Wood Annex (the namesake of Bowen’s first library). Nielson told council that if it is built, the Annex will be on the east side of the library in order to preserve the parking spaces around the back.
Bob McGilvray, a local, retired architect, drew up a plan for the addition, which is estimated to provide between 1000 and 1200 square feet of extra space for the library. The estimated cost of construction, Nielson told council, is somewhere between three and four hundred thousand dollars.
“We are also looking for a partnership agreement,” Neilson told council. “Our part of the partnership will be to raise the funds to construct it and we would ask the municipality to take ownership of it and responsibility for the maintenance of it after it is constructed. It doesn’t make sense for the library to own something that is attached to a municipal building on municipal land.”
Nielson estimates that the cost of ownership and maintenance once the Annex is constructed to be $5,400 per year.
Public Works Manager Bob Robinson said that the addition would not likely impact potential ferry marshalling solutions, but survey drawings would be necessary to ensure that the building did not cross the property line. Nielson said such a survey would definitely be conducted, as it would be required prior to any kind of construction.
“At this point we’re spending library reserve funds,” Nielson told council. “So we don’t want to spend more until we can get some kind of okay from council.”
Mayor Jack Adelaar brought up the rezoning of Lot #2 of Bowen Island’s community lands.
“One of the suggestions has been the library becoming part of that Community Campus, either as part of the community centre building or one of the other buildings,” said Adelaar. “I’m just wondering if spending the money today, on this, then, is really such a good idea.”
Nielson replied that while the library board liked the idea of being part of a shared space community centre, separate buildings in a community campus type setting would likely be far more expensive than an expansion of the current library.
“We also thought about, while it is a long term goal, realistically, we’re not sure that it is the library that will be the building to get built. We don’t know how we would raise that amount of funding, and there would be three or four other organizations competing for that kind of funding at the same time…”
Mayor Adelaar re-iterated his concern that if the zoning of lot #2 goes ahead, it would make sense for all municipal buildings – including the library – to be a part of the community campus, and it would be “premature” to spend three or four hundred thousand dollars on expanding the current library.
“Do you have a timeline?” Asked Nielson.
“We’re moving towards a timeline,” said the Mayor.
“I think one of the things that Tina hasn’t added is that the library is currently inadequate in terms of required space,” added Councillor Tim Rhodes. “And I think that realistically, even if we could envision a whole new library five years down the road, the library has to do something in the interim, and this actually improves the value of municipal land.”
Councillor Cro Lucas argued in favour of the library’s planned expansion on the basis that such plan was more do-able, in size and scope, than a community campus.
Councillor Alison Morse argued against the plan.
“I don’t see the sense of spending 400 thousand dollars and then walk into another building five years down the road. I thought we were talking about a portable, something more in the range of $150 thousand... Its great to get fundraising to build a capital asset, but not if its going to end up sitting empty.”
Mayor Adelaar went on to suggest that another thing that might happen to change the situation, is that Bowen might get access to Crippen Park land that currently belongs to Metro Parks, and that the library should put their idea aside for a few months.
“We are where we are on Bowen Island because we decide not to do things,” responded Councillor Rhodes. “And it’s a big circle…”
Councillor Lucas, in response to further urging by the Mayor to wait and gather more information, said he does not see anything game-changing coming to fruition for at least five, maybe ten years.
“I’m very optimistically, in my little timeline, thinking 2016, as a grand opening. Fundraising would bring us into 2015, and then construction, considering heron nesting, at least into 2016, and that’s being optimistic,” Nielson added. “I’m also not as optimistic as our-worship is about the progress of the community lands. Definitely, our preferred option is to be a part of the community centre.”
The councillors agreed to delay their municipal staff work with the Library board and report back at the May 12th council meeting.
