Board votes in favour of LeBreton library
By Spencer Van Dyk
After a series of public consultations — and a four-and-a-half-hour meeting on Jan. 31 — the Ottawa Public Library Board voted 8-to-1 in favour of a new Central Library at 557 Wellington St., at the eastern edge of LeBreton Flats, to be built by 2022.
The decision was expected to be ratified by a large margin at city council on Feb. 8. A planned partnership with Library and Archives Canada, which would share the building and pay about $69 million of the anticipated $168 million cost, still has to be approved by the federal government.
The site, bounded by Albert and Commissioner streets about 50 metres west of Bronson Avenue, has long been favoured by Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, library board chair Tim Tierney and others because of its proximity to the soon-to-be Pimisi LRT station. But it’s been strongly opposed by Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney, the Centretown Citizens Community Association and the Bookmark the Core advocacy group for reasons ranging from lack of easy accessibility to the Flats area and its two-kilometre distance from the central downtown core site of the current Main branch.
Monique Desormeaux, deputy CEO of the Ottawa Public Library, said at the meeting that she has “always known it was a good site,” but after various discussions was convinced it is the “best site.”
McKenney, whose ward encompasses both the present Main library and the spot chosen for the new Central Library, registered the only vote against the Wellington site. Earlier in the selection process, she had complained that public consultations were inadequate and the board seemed determined to choose a west-of-Bronson site despite solid opposition from those living to the east.
“Obviously I’m disappointed,” she said, adding that as the representative for both the downtown core and LeBreton Flats she voted “as a city councillor, not a ward councillor,” and believes “557 Wellington is not the best site and we can do better.”
Of the 21 members of the public who spoke at the meeting, five spoke in favour of 557 Wellington, and 16 spoke against.
Retired architect and Centretown resident Tony Griffiths said the planned site is simply too far from the heart of the city, the residents of which will be losing their branch library. He called the choice of the proposed location “categorically wrong.”
Other speakers said the escarpment slope around the site will make it inaccessible to people with mobility issues, and that it will be hard to reach for those on a low or fixed income who cannot afford to take the LRT.
“Its own physical, geographic characteristics are less than ideal for accessibility, in particular for pedestrians,” said Emilie Taman, co-chair and spokesperson for Bookmark the Core, which has fought to keep the library closer to the city’s central business district.
She said not only is the proposed site at the bottom of a steep escarpment that makes it difficult for pedestrians, it is so far from the core that it will have to make up the difference for the 25 per cent of its visitors who work near and regularly visit the current downtown branch at the corner of Metcalfe Street and Laurier Avenue.
“We’re going to keep following the file, and we’re going to keep advocating for the public interest at every level,” she said. “We’re a group that are really excited about the library; we want to see this project be as successful as possible.”
Watson was present throughout the Jan. 31 meeting, though he is not on the library board and did not have a vote. He has argued that the 557 Wellington St. is particularly attractive because the land is owned by the city.
While the board’s vote effectively ended the fight over the Central Library site, McKenney said there is still much to be examined when it comes to branch locations.
“There is a larger discussion to be had around libraries, and that is, where are our branch libraries, and are they serving the right people, and are they serving low income families,” she said. “I think that’s another discussion for when this one wraps up.”
There has already been some discussion of space being used at City Hall for library services once the Main branch is closed, but Taman said she believes there could be a push in the future for a satellite branch in the downtown core, but that it could take a while.
“As of right now the city is simply proposing a potential depot at City Hall, which would not come close to meeting the needs of Centretown residents,” she said in an email. “And while there may, indeed, be a ‘push’ for a downtown branch, I don’t see the city committing resources to that anytime soon.”
There is expected to be an international design competition for the new facility once the site is approved by city council and Library and Archives Canada. Construction on the proposed site is expected to start in 2020 and be completed in 2022.