FRPL sent its views on the proposed debt for Central Library and past history of planning re Central. See FRPL letter to RPL March 24, 2026 Board meeting.FRPL to RPL for Mar 24, 2026 mtg – final-rev
In brief
It makes most sense to keep and update the heritage Central building, do repairs, as needed, to the current structurally sound building, and put on an addition when funds are available.
In July 2024, the RPL had asked and City Council had committed up to $119 million of debt for the Central Library Renewal Project (CLRP). BUT these funds were actually not fully committed in the budget and now only a portion will be available by 2030, unless federal and provincial grants offset other city debts.
3 levels of options for RPL are suggested. starting page 139 for Central Library Renewal Project (CLRP)
1. As part of RPL’s 2027 Budget, it could request, save and invest a library mill rate to cover the cost of CLRP. The following are a few examples of what RPL could request.
a. continue to collect the extra 5.5% dedicated mill rate.
b. ask for for a larger annual dedicated library mill rate e.g. 10% or 20% .
c. submit capital plans to renovate its existing main library building using current reserve ($18.5 million) and the funds generated from the dedicated 5.5 % library mill rate to date.
d. include a limit of $51.2 million (Table 12 below) total project costs (estimated cash savings through dedicated mill rates plus RPL’s reserve) in its Request For Proposal (RFP).
2. As part of RPL’s 2027 Budget, it could request the City acquire debt for CLRP and a corresponding dedicated library mill rate to cover the debt servicing costs.
a. The available debt room be used for City infrastructure priority 1 projects estimated at $764 million as outlined in Table 6 above
b. Direct Administration to request a $120 million increase to the debt limit that would be used exclusively for the CLRP.
3. RPL could seek donations, apply for grants and consider where it could charge for services to fund the CLRP.
Other options
a. Consider other grants from Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB) – The City monitors and applies for grants when appropriate. The CIB does not issue grants, as it is a financial services organization that provides debt financing. The City has been in contact with CIB and plans to work with them for the debt for the Northwest Regional Lift Station and WWTP.
b. Use capital carryforward – The City has capital carryforward that will be used for existing and future projects. Any capital carryforward no longer required must be returned to source before it can be allocated to other projects. Administration is planning to provide recommendations as part of its Capital Governance Principles document that will be shared with City Council at its July 28, 2026 meeting, whereby projects that do not begin after two years are cancelled. Administration is planning to complete a detailed review with the intention of providing information in the 2027 capital budget.
c. Cash flow CLRP with City investments and loan money to RPL with interest – The investments are reserve accounts and capital carryforward amounts set aside for designated capital projects or replenishment of assets. Using those funds for other purposes would be irresponsible and risks the City not having funds available for intended purposes when needed. Using cash and investments is only appropriate for short-term funding of projects until a final funding mechanism is put in place.
Best and worst case scenarios are listed for the City’s overall debt.
The City has applied for $90 million in funding from the Canadian Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF) for the Northwest Regional Lift Station, including the trunk Line for the Skywood neighbourhood.
The City anticipates receiving confirmation of grant funding in the summer of 2026. Until a grant amount is confirmed, the full amount of the debt remains as $51.4 million. The City is expecting to fund $12 million of the project with Housing Accelerator Funding (HAF). This funding source has not yet been approved by City Council. If this funding source is not approved an additional $12 million of debt will be required. If the City receives more than 15 per cent of the grant amount requested, the amount of the debt required will decrease. The amount of the decrease ranges up to the $51.4 million full amount of debt currently anticipated. If the City receives 15 per cent or less of the amount applied for, the debt requirements for the project will increase by up to an estimated $5 million. Due to the uncertainty of the grant amount, the original debt amount has been included in the debt limit calculation.
The RPL Budget will be discussed at the City’s Executive Committee on Wed. Oct. 15. The meeting starts at 9 am but the RPL is last on the agenda. These meetings often contain more detailed discussion than occurs at the City Council meetings. It is a chance to put in ideas and get the Councillors thinking.
“If you wish to appear as a delegation, either in person or via teleconference, you must register by 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14, 2025 by completing this form on the City’s website.” “A written brief in advance is not required to present to a Committee.”
The City Council will vote on the RPL’s mill rate increase request on Dec. 17, 2025. There will be an opportunity to submit written presentations in advance of the meeting. Usually “The deadline to register to address Council is no later than 12 p.m. on Monday prior to the scheduled meeting …” BUT the timing may change this year as part of new City budget processes. Check the City website for changes. https://reginask.iqm2.com//Citizens/default.aspx?
From the RPL budget document
“The 2026 mill rate increase for regular operations is 3.85% (equivalent to approximately a 0.35% civic mill rate increase) and the 2027 projected mill rate increase is 4.33% (equivalent to approximately a 0.39% civic mill rate increase). After years of low mill rate increases, RPL has had to increase its annual mill rate request to offset the risks created by these low requests and to address mounting inflation and other challenges, such as facilities renewal and other capital. The requested increase for 2026 and 2027 is primarily related to typical increased business costs, such as salaries and benefits, infrastructure upgrades, and additional costs for new technology. RPL will continue to work hard to decrease the impact of its mill rate on Regina taxpayers, while ensuring that we evolve to meet customer and community expectations. 1 Calculated based on the City’s average residential assessed value of $315,000”
“On July 9, 2024, City Council agreed to support the Central Library Renewal project by approving:
Debt funding of approximately $92M to $119M, which could be borrowed in portions as needed from 2026 to 2029; and
A dedicated Central Library mill rate increase, in principle, of 5.5% each year over five years, starting in 2025. Council agreed the special mill rate would fund some capital costs and pay back debt resulting from the project. In 2026 and 2027, this increase will cost the average homeowner a total of about 96 cents more per month on their property tax bill.”
We are particularly concerned about the Request for Qualifications for Central Library planning, to be discussed on the 23rd.
We refer you to our presentation to City Council in March 2025 with our comments value of the Central Library and costs, and on the architectural heritage significance of Central Library, further reinforced by the City of Regina’s own Statement of Significance for Central Library (Appendix 1), and reiterated again in a letter from the National Trust of Canada to the City of Regina, which underlines their firm understanding of the national heritage significance of Regina’s Central Library to the history of Canada.
Submissions made to the City Council on March 17, 2025 letters from citizens with important and inspiring information and photos. (See March 17, 2025 Delegates List – Presentations under RPL heading and also letters listed under Communications https://reginask.iqm2.com/Citizens/Calendar.aspx ) This record has been updated to include the letter from the National Trust for Canada.
Although the building has never had a major renovation in its lifetime, and “RPL has resisted investing significant sums of money to improve or perform maintenance on the current library unless it is absolutely necessary” (https://central.reginalibrary.ca/assets/2017051.pdf , Central Library Business Case 2017/02, p.19.), it remains in fine structural condition, according to all assessments.
The RPL Board has a moral and legal duty to follow the spirit of the VPHCD bylaw and the Heritage Property Act, and that any proposals for renewal on the current library property ought to be in keeping with the guidelines and purposes of this legislation.
Renovation of the current heritage building would cost much less than demolition and replacement. Even with putting on additional storeys, the cost would be less. See the Deloitte report Central Library Business Case https://central.reginalibrary.ca/assets/2017051.pdf, pages 1-2, 26-27. Previous studies for the RPL have indicated the possibilities of renovation and expansion, rather than a new building. A plan was actually made in 1993 for an expansion of the building, available from the Saskatchewan Archives. (Arnott Kelley O’Connor & Associates Ltd., Architects, Engineers, Planners. This was the successor firm of Izumi Arnott and Sugiyama, who were the original architects and repository of knowledge about the building.)
Rehabilitation and expansion would be the most environmentally sensitive action, rather than having the current building go to the landfill.
In conclusion, the Request for Qualifications, being discussed in today’s agenda, should require the applicants to have a commitment to the history of Regina, the vision for a sensitive expansion, and knowledge of processes for rehabilitating the current Central Library building to create a renewed improved building for library purposes in its current ideal location.
Feb. 2, 2025 : The Regina Public Library budget for 2025 has been released
It will be discussed at the City Council Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday, February 5th at 9 am
Register Monday Feb. 3rd by12 noon to speak. Also send in written presentation / letters by then to have them included in the meeting notes, even if you do not wish to speak.
For Library Budget see pages 48 to 75 of Agenda Packet for Executive Committee meeting on Feb 5.
To present to City Council/Committee regarding an agenda item, you must submit a request by completing the online form or calling 306-777-7262 for assistance with your registration request. See details at https://reginask.iqm2.com/Citizens/Calendar.aspx
Written submissions helpful but not required at Executive Committee.
Final Library Budget Approval in March
Other presentations can be made at Council in March. But saying something now influences the decisions.
Budget discussions in March will be held between the 17th and 19th, date for Library budget discussion to be confirmed. Advance notice with a written submission will be required to make a presentation.
Library budget is very informative, mostly a discussion of goals, recent achievements, and hopes for the year ahead. Plus some budget information tables. But needs to be read to see what they are hoping to do, what they are leaving out, what you agree with. Contains a discussion of “Central Renewal”. RPL is asking for an increase in its mill rate of 4.58 %, PLUS an addition 5.5 % each year over 5 years to add to funds for “Central Renewal”.
City Council cannot change details of the budget. BUT Council has control in that it can approve or disapprove the increase in the mill rate, or any part thereof, requested by the Library. Council can ask to have the mill rate reduced, or have it increased if Council feels it is not adequate to meet needed expenses. (This is what happened in 2004 when the RPL was asked to increase its budget request to avoid library branch closures.) But Council can ask questions at the meetings and have discussions behind the scenes with the RPL.
Your diversity of ideas, praises and criticisms are helpful. Pass them on to FRPL, or send directly into the Executive Committee meeting or City Council Budget meetings AND your City Councillor.
Note that the City Council motion to support a loan to RPL for up to $119 Million, passed on July 9, 2024, will not be a part of the mill rate vote. Any changes to that motion must come through a Motion to Reconsider by City Councillors. The funds will not be disbursed to the RPL until requested at a later date.
Friends of the Regina Public Library invite you to join Architectural Critic Adele Weder, Architectural Modernist Advocate Cheryl Cooper, and artist Jeannie Mah on a walking tour of Kiyoshi Izumi’s Modernist Central Library, to celebrate its beauty and significance for Regina’s heritage, and to understand its status within the Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District.
Sunday September 29th, 2 pm
Meet at front steps of Central Library: Lorne St + 12th Ave.
During the Ordinary Amazing Symposium at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in 2007, Cheryl Cooper and Trevor Boddy co-drafted The Regina Declaration, signed by national and local architects, and Regina citizens.
Regina’s Central Library is a building of national, historical, cultural and architectural merit, and we urge City Council and the Library Board to find a way to keep and maintain and enhance the heritage value of this fine building consistent with the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada; as well as explore creative possibilities for a building enlargement that would complement the 1962 building, so it can continue to serve the changing needs of Regina’s people, and enhance its key public spaces.
Adele Weder is a Vancouver-based architectural writer, critic, curator, and contributing editor to Canadian Architect magazine. Adele completed her Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture at the University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, where she is currently a member of the advisory committee. She is the founding director of the West Coast Modern League design advocacy group, the author and co-author of several books on architecture, and the recipient of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) President’s Award for Architectural Journalism, among other honours. Her most recent book, Ron Thom Architect: The Life of a Creative Modernist, was published by Greystone Books last fall.
Cheryl Cooper is an advocate for the conservation of the modern period, most notably saving Arthur Erickson’s Evergreen Building in Vancouver (City of Vancouver Heritage Award of Honour 2009). She was instrumental in installing the reflecting pond at the Museum of Anthropology (2010), completing the vision of Arthur Erickson and landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. In 2011, she worked with a team to nominate the Museum of Anthropology, Robson Square, and Wiens’ Heating and Cooling Plant for the University of Regina for the RAIC Prix du XXe Siecle. All three won. RAIC recognized Cheryl’s long contribution with the 2011 Architecture Canada Award of Excellence as an Advocate of Architecture. Cheryl grew up in Regina and lives in Vancouver.
Jeannie Mah, a Regina ceramic artist whose work explores self-identity within the intricacies of geography, race, and local history, is included in many books on contemporary ceramics. She is co-editor of Regina’s Secret Spaces: Love and Lore of Local Geography (2006), and Biblio Files: A History of the Regina Public Library (2016).
Please attend this informative event and exhibition. A conversation about the architects of Central Library and other buildings. Sept 12 at 7 pm at the Mackenzie Art Gallery.
Learn about the architects and process of designing Central Library, the Centre of the Arts and other Saskatchewan buildings and the modernist approach to architecture.
Join curators Bernard Flaman and Tak Pham for a conversation in conjunction with the exhibition Spring on the Prairie: Kiyoshi Izumi and the work of Izumi Arnott and Sugiyama.
Conversation in the Shumiatcher Theatre at 7 pm, exhibition viewing and reception in Craft Services to follow.
7–10 PM At the MacKenzie Art Gallery There is no cost to attend. The Gallery will be free to the public after 5:00 PM
Spring on the Prairie: Kiyoshi Izumi and the work of Izumi Arnott and Sugiyama celebrates the understated modernism of their buildings, highlighting the blend of durable materials and human-centric designs. The exhibition also features a selection of artwork from the MacKenzie’s Permanent Collection by significant Saskatchewan modernist artists—a selection that offers historical context and enriches the dialogue around Izumi’s architectural legacy.https://mackenzie.art/event/spring-on-the-prairie-curator-conversation-and-opening-reception/
The exhibit will be open at the Gallery Sept 13, 2024 to Jan 19, 2025
A reminder that the RPL Board will meet today at 4:30 pm. People can: – attend in person at the Central Library second floor boardroom; – listen in by teleconference Dial-in: 1 (647) 749-9317 . Password 292 366 424# ; or – view with Microsoft Teams. Register with the RPL Board by 12 noon today. email librarydirectorsoffice@reginalibrary.ca for Microsoft Teams link
Note #7. Strategic Plan Items – these could be interesting: a. Leadership Development 2023-24 Progress 2024-25 Plan (1.1.1) – P. Hesselink b. Partnership Strategy 2023-24 Progress and 2024-25 Plan (3.2.3) – M. Mabi c. Strategic Imperative Public Satisfaction Survey (5.0) – A. Yau
Central Library will not be discussed in the public portion of the meeting.
According to the RPL, the Political Use of Space Policy to be discussed at the meeting: ” … outlines the library’s approach and expectations of staff as they relate to domestic politics and elections activities.” On the other hand, ” The Room Use and Rental Policy outlines the library’s approach, expectations of staff, and expectations of individuals and organizations renting RPL rooms and spaces, regardless of the purpose of the rental.”
The political use of space policy for groups using library facilities will be under item 8.iii) Governance Committee (1) Policies (a) Alcohol for Public Events Policy (b) Asbestos Management Policy (c) Political Use of Space Policy (d) Conduct and Behaviour Policy
Likely discussion of Central, but it is not clear, under item 8 v) Strategic Planning Committee
Rather that deferring the decision until all City possible loan requests could be balanced out as City Administration had suggested, on July 9th City Council voted to immediately approve the RPL’s request for a loan guarantee of $92 to $119 million for the “renewal” of Central Library.
Councillor Bob Hawkins moved, seconded by Councillor John Findura, that City Council1. Commit $92 million to $119 million in debt financing for the Central Library Renewal Project (CLRP); and
2. Approve, in principle, a dedicated Library mill rate increase of 5.5 per cent each year for five years starting in 2025 to allow RPL to accumulate funds in a reserve account until such time as they can be used for the CLRP. (Councillors Bresciani, Nelson and Stadnichuk voted against the motion.)
RPL claimed that there couldn’t be additional storeys or a western tower structure because of the need for pillars or an outside superstructure, but has never released a report by engineers or architects to prove their claim. RPL is going ahead with debt-inducing plans for Central without having an overall plan for other branches or for library services for underserved or expanding areas of the city. The knowledge of the RPL and City Councillors about what protecting the heritage of Central Library would mean seemed to be very limited compared to current standards of architectural preservation.
Friends of the Regina Public Library 