News Local

Two more options for expanded Aylmer library

By Laura Broadley, St. Thomas Times-Journal

At its Monday meeting Aylmer council was presented with two more options for what could happen to the library; a 5,000 square foot expansion at the existing building on John Street or the construction of a new facility on Myrtle Street. (Laura Broadley/Times-Journal)

At its Monday meeting Aylmer council was presented with two more options for what could happen to the library; a 5,000 square foot expansion at the existing building on John Street or the construction of a new facility on Myrtle Street. (Laura Broadley/Times-Journal)

They gave their support then they rescinded it. It was looking like the decades long debate was over, but in May members of Aylmer town council decide the take back the support they had given to move the library to the East Elgin Community Complex.

At its Monday meeting council was presented with two more options for what could happen to the library; a 5,000 square foot expansion at the existing building on John Street or the construction of a new facility on Myrtle Street.

The downtown library has been over capacity for a number of years making a move or expansion crucial to its rejuvenation.

CAO Jenny Reynaert said until the tender comes in it’s hard to know the cost of the total construction, but in a report to council it said the new building would cost between $1.5 million and $2 million while the addition to the downtown building would cost between $800,000 and $1 million depending on the type of building.

“There are a range of construction costs based of varying types of buildings that you might see,” she said.

Reynaert said council hasn’t had a conversation about what type of building it wants and therefore an exact price is still undetermined.

If council were to go ahead with the construction of an addition to the current building there would need to be Heritage Ontario approval because the current build is designated heritage.

Aylmer Mayor Greg Currie said it’s a matter of whether the town can afford it or not. But he said he knows the town needs a new library.

“We need to increase the footprint of the library. It’s too small,” Currie said.

Currie said another issue is that people would like to see the library stay in the downtown, which is part of the reason the East Elgin Community Complex idea never worked out.

“The other the issue is we need to afford it,” Currie said. “What I mean by afford it is by not having any change to our tax level. That to me is somewhat critical.”

No decision was made at Monday’s meeting as council decided to defer until Oct. 2 to give members enough time to weigh the pros and cons of each option.

 

 
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