THUNDER BAY — Just weeks after 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, the library is now looking to expand its County Fair location.
Council will consider a motion next week to approve the renewal of the lease agreement with the mall owners.
Library management is eager to see the deal finalized, saying it includes generous new terms and an expansion of the floor space.
"City council, made up of elected representatives from the community, thought it was more important for us to maintain our presence in County Park than move toward the intercity branch. So we're diving head-in. We're kind of fully embracing that direction from council, and actually looking forward to grow our presence there," CEO RIchard Togman told Newswatch Wednesday.
The proposed lease would maintain the current rate of $114,000 for the next couple of years before going up by "a few per cent," he said, "but overall it's a really stable rate for the next five years or so, and then we'll be able to renegotiate."
Togman said the mall owners see the library as a centrepiece of activity, and are offering considerably more space for essentially the same lease rate.
"They're allowing us to grow our core lease space by about 20 per cent or just under 900 square feet...and to have our own washroom facilities. In addition, they have a few vacant areas adjacent to the library, so we'd sign a separate lease agreement for occasional-use space, if we're putting on larger programs or events that can't fit in the main smaller branch space within County Park Mall."
He said he hopes council will embrace the new lease terms, adding he thinks they accomplish a lot of the goals council has outlined in previous discussions, including maintaining a strong branch at that location, and responding to community needs around programming and children's and seniors' services.
"County Park patrons have told us how much they love their branch. Now we're going to be able to give them more of it. We can afford to knock out a wall and move into the space next door," Togman said.
The TBPL would dip into its reserve fund to pay for the renovations needed for the additional space, but it also plans to launch a community fundraising campaign this year to support improvements across the entire library system.
In February, the County Fair branch was briefly closed due to a nearby water leak in the ceiling caused by a frozen drain outside the building, but library staff were able to relocate books to prevent damage.
