THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Public Library will be expanding its County Fair location.
Council voted unanimously to approve the renewal of the lease agreement with the mall owners.
CEO Richard Togman said the lease agreement will maintain the current rent of $114,000 a year for the next two years, with a minor percentage increase in the last few years before the library renegotiates with the mall.
As part of the new lease, the library will take over an additional 892 square feet of space. They plan to remove a wall to the adjacent storefront to create a programming room.
They will also gain another 4,000 square foot space located directly across from the existing location. The library plans to use that space as an overflow area for bigger events and activities.
“To have a unanimous vote by city council on that really shows their faith in the library system. And also, a new alignment in how the library is moving forward, under council's direction with how they want the library branches distributed across the city,” Togman told Newswatch in an interview.
Weeks ago, city council rejected a proposal to shut down the Thunder Bay Public Library branch at County Fair Mall in favour of a new site at Intercity Shopping Centre.
“I think having that certainty now, where we're in the four branches — that's where the community has voiced their opinion through city council — allows us that clarity to now move forward with confidence and double down on what we know works.
"And so that is a big new emphasis on programming,” Togman said. “Having the books anchor our spaces and, in general, maximizing the talents of our staff and the space that we have available.
"It's a big win for the community and the library system to get significantly more space, at even a slightly cheaper price than we were paying before.”
Coun. Brian Hamilton questioned Togman about the upgrades to the branch space, mainly around the public washroom facilities and safety concerns.
Togman said that the vacant space the library will be taking over has a small bathroom, which will get some minor renovations. He also said the mall owners have committed to upgrading the main mall bathrooms.
As for safety, he mentioned the bathroom areas are occasionally vandalized, but overall, the County Fair location “has fewer safety incidents” than other branches.
“There is a mall security guard that patrols the space, but not during all mall open hours,” Togman said.
Togman told council that there will be no extra cost to the taxpayer as the core library is sufficiently staffed and the overflow area will only be used occasionally.
“The only cost to the library system will be paying the utility bills (when the overflow space is in use), essentially. So that was something that we worked into the negotiations with the landlord to provide us that flexible use at the smallest conceivable price, which is basically just paying for the, you know, the lights for that day,” Togman said.
He also said the library will use its reserve funds to cover the cost of any renovations.
Togman said the library is launching a major fundraising campaign this year to help with upgrades to all four library branches.
“We heard loud and clear that the community really wants and values that branch of County Park. So to a certain degree, we'll be asking to put their money where their mouth is and do a fundraising campaign to contribute to the improvement of that space so that we can be the best library system possible with the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars that we can,” Togman said.
