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Halifax Central Library Joins the 21st Century
August, 2010
Cultural Infrastructure Supports Downtown Dynamism
By Barbara Carss
Need was long established, studies conducted and an overarching vision in place, but capital funding for a new central library in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) remained elusive until the 2009 federal budget pledged $12 billion for infrastructure construction and renewal via a package of different incentive programs.
“We have been proposing a new central library since before the amalgamation of the Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996 and the sticking point has always been funding,” notes Judith Hare, Chief Executive Officer of the Halifax Regional Library Board. “The infrastructure money was very, very important because often other infrastructure programs didn’t include libraries. Build Canada grants include a category for cultural institutions.”
Even so, proponents had to make a convincing case for their project among many eager applicants. Regional Council was firmly on side, having already approved the plan for a new Central Library in principle, and endorsed it as one of two nominated projects forwarded to federal decision makers disbursing the HRM’s share of the funds.
Today, with the commitment of $18.3 million from the federal government and $13 million from the Nova Scotia government, public consultations to inform the design process are underway for a modern facility on a prominent downtown site. The architectural team, led by the Halifax-based firm of Fowler Bauld & Mitchell, expects plans to be essentially finalized when the last of five public meetings occurs in November 2010. Construction will then have to proceed relatively quickly to meet the Building Canada Fund program’s deadline for completion by December 31, 2013.
FROM OBSOLETE TO CONTEMPORARY SPACE
Earlier consultation and studies have already identified some of the key components to be incorporated into the 110,000-square-foot facility, including accessible design, a 250-seat auditorium, space for community programs and room for the library’s collection to grow. Designers are also aiming for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold status.
“The current building, per square foot, costs a whole lot of money to operate,” observes George Cotaras, Vice President and General Manager with Fowler Bauld & Mitchell. “The new building will be less expensive to operate over many, many years.”
Engineering consultants long ago concluded that it would be less costly to build a new library than to try to retrofit and expand the existing 38,000-square-foot facility to meet today’s standards. It is showing its age as it nears the 60-year mark.
Lack of air conditioning and a front entrance that only the physically able can negotiate are two of the most obvious signs of dated design. Staff and patrons have also been frustrated with the limited capacity for IT services and technology and insufficient space for community activities, while many of the building components require repair, replacement or – given that it contains asbestos and lead paint – remediation.
“Physically, the building is deteriorating very badly around us,” Hare says. “It was built a long time before computers and technology came along so it is very, very difficult to rewire or even find space for technology in the building. It’s just a very old model of use dominated by book stacks. We want the central library to act as a kind of hub for the downtown and to be a place for people to gather, and we can’t accommodate many of these things in the current building.”
ICONIC SITE, COMMUNITY CATALYST
Outdoors, however, the grounds surrounding the current library are a favoured place for Haligonians to congregate, relax and enjoy the sights on Spring Garden Road – one of the city’s most historic and dynamic thoroughfares, which traverses the shopping district and leads to Halifax Public Gardens, the oldest Victorian style civic gardens in North America. The new library will be located across the street from its predecessor, providing a very similar view, and an opportunity to enhance the streetscape and green space on a site that’s currently a parking lot.
“The existing building is an iconic building, at least from the outside perspective. It’s a focal point for the community as a location and I think the new site is iconic in the same way,” Cotaras reflects. “The public garden anchors one end of Spring Garden Road and we see the new library as a winter garden anchoring the other end.”
The downtown location draws nearby residents, workers who travel into the core regularly and students from Dalhousie and St. Mary’s Universities. The new facility will also support the arts community. “We have a partnership with Symphony Nova Scotia and we foresee small ensembles playing in the auditorium,” Hare says.
Once the new library is built, the HRM will reclaim the existing library and grounds, and is now beginning the process to decide how to readapt the space. Meanwhile, as part of the land swap agreement for the new site, which was formerly owned by the Nova Scotia government, 100 underground parking spaces will be accommodated in the library’s underground parking garage to replace those lost from the former parking lot.
HRM is the most significant sponsor for the project, with a promised capital contribution of $23.7 million. Of that, the Halifax Regional Library Board itself is kicking in $3.4 million – $1.7 million generated from fundraising and $1.7 million derived from portions set aside from its operating budget.
If interest thus far is any indication, fundraisers should be able to find willing donors among the populace. Organizers are expecting at least 200 people to attend each of the five public meetings planned from June to November, based on similar sized turnouts throughout the previous rounds of public consultation on the central library concept. “The project has elicited an incredible amount of enthusiasm and we have received a massive amount of input from the public,” Hare reports.
“We are really excited about having the public consultation and getting on with the design,” Cotaras says. “It’s the most significant public building to be built in Halifax for a generation and probably will be for another generation.”
The Building Canada Fund pledges $8.8 billion over seven years. The program is divided into two components geared to larger and smaller communities.
- The Major Infrastructure Component is for strategic projects deemed of national or regional significance.
- The Communities Component is earmarked for projects in communities with populations less than 100,000.
Funding is allocated for projects in the provinces and territories based on their populations. Major projects are selected through federal-provincial/territorial negotiations.
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