Library work on schedule
Heather MacAdam, heathermacadam@thecasket.ca
The parking area between the Capital Theatre and future location of the Antigonish Library is now closed to traffic. (Heather MacAdam photo)
Work on the People’s Place library in downtown Antigonish has officially begun. Mary MacLellan, chair of the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library (PARL) board and president of the Library Boards Association of Nova Scotia (LBANS) said the project is mainly a renovation job. “It’s not a like a new building starting from the very beginning,” she said. “But they’ll be gutting out the whole interior. The structure of the building will be remaining but a lot of the outside and the inside will be pretty well changed.” Some of the area around the building has been closed off, MacLellan said, including the parking lot between the library and site and Capital Theatre that leads from Main Street towards Piper’s Pub. “It’s not open to traffic anymore and that’s mainly for safety concerns – both for the workers and for the [public].” So far the project is on schedule, MacLellan said, which would mean the library being completed by late November. “One of the unique features about it the heating system is going to be a geothermal system,” she said. “That involves drilling holes in the ground and using the earth’s heat for a component of the heating … that will be used in the library. It’s one of the green [components] that we’re using.” MacLellan said she has been a member of the library board for 18 years, and for 10 or more of those years the board has focused on improving the library facility in Antigonish. “The ultimate goal was to build a new one and this is the stage we’re finally at. There’s been that expressed need for a long, long time and when you walked into the little library there was no [wheelchair] accessibility. It certainly was a project that should have been done five or 10 years ago but it’s never too late to get it done.” The plus side to waiting and searching so long for a location is ending up with the “perfect spot.” “Its right next to Main Street, it’s a large, large building, lots of parking space and an opportunity to do a lot more things than had we, maybe, sacrificed and gone into a smaller area.” However, the project is still short funding, MacLellan said, and the board is continuing to lobby the government. The project is still short about $200,000, MacLellan said, but they wanted to build the kind of facility that was designed and that people asked for during the consultation process, so the board decided to continue. “We didn’t want to sacrifice any of the elements that were in it so we decided that we would proceed with the construction as is and we’re still continuing to look for some extra funding.” Both municipalities have put in “more than their fair share,” MacLellan said, and the province has contributed through two separate programs. “The federal government has been very generous and very supportive but we’re hoping because this project is more than a library project – it addresses needs of the whole community – so we’re going for some extra funding.” Groups such as Antigonish County Adult Learning Association and the Guysborough Antigonish Strait Health Authority will have space in the new library, she said. “We feel it’s addressing a lot of the needs in Antigonish over and above what it’s generally expected to do.”
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