Library board votes to renovate Rosemount branch

Ottawa Public Library Rosemount branch. File Photo taken in 1918.

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Ottawa Public Library trustees on Tuesday voted in favour of a staff plan to renovate the Rosemount branch, rather than pursuing a bigger community library.

The $2-million renovation will be included in the OPL’s 2018 budget proposal, but some supporters of the Rosemount branch in Hintonburg criticized the OPL for not expanding the community library.

Trustees had little choice under the OPL’s budget constraints.

The OPL has already spent money looking into options for the Rosemount branch, including $100,000 this year to hire a consultant to write a business case, which concluded that a renovation is the only affordable option.

Coun. Tim Tierney, the chair of the library board, expects the renovation will bring dramatic changes that will greatly improve the Rosemount branch.

A renovation would include a new exterior facade, improved accessibility, larger vestibule with stroller parking, interior book drops, flexible programming space, new shelving on wheels and restored heritage elements.

The library building at 18 Rosemount Ave. will be 100 years old in 2018.

The OPL is looking for a renewal option that will be affordable over 25 years.

There just isn’t enough revenue to offset the costs that come with relocating the library. There’s a low risk with renovating the existing branch, rather than paying to relocate or build a replacement branch.

The OPL looked at five other options, including leasing commercial space, building a new library or using space in another city-owned building.

Expanding the current building isn’t possible because of the small property footprint and potential cost.

Josh Nutt, chair of the Rosemount Expansion and Development Group, tried to convince trustees that there needs to be a larger Rosemount branch, based on the high demand in the Hintonburg and Wellington West communities.

“We don’t want Rosemount to be left behind,” Nutt said.

One big variable is the OPL’s intention to build a new central library on LeBreton Flats. The OPL is waiting to hear if Library and Archives Canada will be a partner in the project.

Coun. Catherine McKenney, whose home library branch is Rosemount, said a new central library on the west side of downtown might draw people away from the Rosemount branch. McKenney opposed the LeBreton Flats site for a new central library because she wanted to keep the facility in the downtown core.

Nutt argued that the central-west community library branch would still be necessary, even after the central library is built.

jwilling@postmedia.com

twitter.com/JonathanWilling

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