NEWS RELEASE: Monday March 25, 2013
REGINA, SK — The Friends of the Regina Public Library (FRPL) are calling for a design for Central Library that is based on renovations and additions, rather than demolishing the current building.
After many months of requesting that material be made public, the Friends’ efforts were successful when the RPL Board gradually released documents related to the Central Library between October 25, 2012 and February 14, 2013. “Some of this material is more than two years old, and we don’t understand why it couldn’t have been released earlier,” said Joanne Havelock of FRPL. “However, we are glad to have it available to the public now.”
“We appreciate that considerable effort has been put into the planning documents and although the original design that came out in 2011 will not be implemented, many of the concepts will be carried forward into the next design,” said Havelock. “There are both interesting and controversial ideas in the Development Plan and the public needs time to review and understand these options.”
FRPL is asking that print copies be made available at each of the library branches.
On Sunday February 24, 2013 FRPL held a public meeting to draw attention to those reports and encourage people to examine their contents. Some key questions came forward at this meeting.
The Library Board had said that it would be holding consultations in March, 2013, but this has not occurred. FRPL would like to know when the consultations will occur and what kind of consultation process will be used. In addition to proposed phone and on-line surveys, will there be a single public meeting or a series of meetings? How will participants be able to share their views?
Participants were surprised that the Development Plan did not include an option for renovation and/or expansion of the current Central Library Building. A survey conducted by FRPL found that Regina residents were quite concerned that the building could be demolished. FRPL is asking the RPL Board to request that the architects prepare a design for renovation and expansion of the current Central Library building. From the Building Assessment report this is not only possible, but more cost-effective and would preserve the heritage of the current modern
FRPL would also like to RPL Board to clarify whether it will be submitting a new proposal to the P3 Canada Fund and whether this would be done for the June 30, 2013 deadline. The FRPL survey found that residents felt that the library building should remain publicly-owned.
FRPL will be making a presentation to the Library Board at 4:30 pm on Tuesday March 26, 2013 at the RPL Boardroom, second floor of Central Library.
Presentation to RPL Board, March 26, 2013 FRPL to RPL Board re March 26, 2013 mtg – final
Friends of the Regina Public Library 