By Erika Paulson
Bayview is too expensive and too far walking distance to be a feasible site for the new main public library, says Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes.
She admits the main public library needs to relocate in order to serve Ottawa’s growing population and needs, but says moving it out of downtown Ottawa is not an option.
“Bayview is out beyond the walking distance of most people,” says Holmes. She says her constituents like the library’s central location and convenience, and that moving the main library out of the downtown area is a bad idea.
“I would much prefer to see the location at the old Tech High School (at 440 Albert). I’ll be speaking with the mayor and with the school board about it.
“First, the school board has to decide if they’ll sell it or make it into a high school.”
The school is now used as a continuing education facility.
The Bayview site has previously been used as a landfill, train yard, sawmill and lumber yard, and is being analyzed by environmental consultants to determine levels of industrial contaminants in the sub-surface soil. “The city just can’t afford to clean that land,” says Holmes.
Randolph Wang, a city planner, is working on developing the Bayview area. He says the topsoil is “contaminated to some degree,” and that the city must complete an environmental scan before setting up a timeline for redeveloping the site or creating a budget.
“There are always ways to decontaminate,” says Wang, “but at what cost?”
Baseline Coun. Rick Chiarelli says Bayview “offers the best chance for private partnership” in development ventures, and that it could qualify for the federal government’s brownfield pilot project, which is an initiative to fund the restoration of damaged land sites. He says relocation and construction costs of a new library, estimated at $80 million, do not include clean-up costs.
“The mayor is in contact with the Prime Minister,” says Chiarelli. The project would be “an experiment in cleaning and developing sites,” and would reduce costs to the city. Chiarelli says the city has already received many offers to buy the main library property at Metcalfe and Laurier, and that it could be sold for up to $8 million, which would also help reduce costs.
Alan Roberts, manager of community partnership and programming at the Ottawa Public Library, says the Bayview location is still only one of seven locations being considered for the new main branch.
“We hired consultants who are looking at the level of needs and are looking at comparable services and trends,” in cities the size of Ottawa, says Roberts. “It’s still a very preliminary study.”
“In the long-term, I’d like to see consultations with the public on where the best location would be,” he says, adding it could be a while before any decisions are made.
“We’re laying the groundwork,” says Roberts.
“There are some people who feel the development of the transit system into Bayview would make it a good site, but the library is still doing research on other sites. Politicians have leapt ahead of that.”