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Ottawa’s central library project is like the dusty novel on your shelf that has a bookmark at the beginning of Chapter 3 but hasn’t been opened in months.
Picking up where you left off might require thumbing a few pages back to find out what happened.
There’s a council-approved site at 557 Wellington St., which is just west of Albert Street and Bronson Avenue.
However, city hall doesn’t know yet what it will build because it hasn’t heard from its potential development partner, Library and Archives Canada, if the federal government will provide money for its share of the construction program.
Library and Archives spokesman Richard Provencher provided this update: “Discussions on this collaboration project for a shared facility between Library and Archives Canada and the Ottawa Public Library are ongoing. At this moment there is nothing new to report.”
So, the City of Ottawa could close out 2017 with only a paper plan of a new main library. There were higher expectations when council voted on the path forward last February after OPL management and trustees delivered the proposal to city hall. Even Library and Archives thought it would have a decision by last spring.
The city last May issued a request for qualifications for design firms.
That was effectively the last official update on the project.
The Ottawa Public Library asked architect Ajon Moriyama to sketch out a blocking plan for a new central library at 557 Wellington St. The drawing helped the library establish a high-level cost estimate but it is not a design rendering for the building.
Marco Manconi, the manager of design and construction on the project, said the city will let people know when the qualifications process is done.
Really, the city needs to know if the federal government is in or out.
“City and library staff continue to work together for the necessary project approvals and authorities from various departments and agencies,” Manconi said in an email.
“As many city and library processes and approvals are dependent on confirmation of federal government participation, the implementation plan for the central library project has not yet been finalized.”
(Manconi has been the city’s go-to manager for big-ticket projects. He oversaw Lansdowne Park construction and the Arts Court development.)
At the same time, it’s hard to see where a new Library and Archives facility fits into the organization’s priorities.
The current three-year plan under which Library and Archives is operating mentions a massive new preservation facility in Gatineau (which is currently under development) but not additional buildings. In fact, the 2016-2019 plan calls for the current Library and Archives building at 395 Wellington St. in Ottawa to be a “destination of choice.”
The current main library on Metcalfe Street at Laurier Avenue.
The City of Ottawa could build a standalone library, but it would prefer to partner with the federal institution to build a $168-million landmark facility. Under the partnership scheme, the city would be on the hook for $99 million. While the city could knock that down to about $95 million using development charges and reserves, it would lean heavily on the sale of the current Metcalfe Street library building and upper-government grants, if they’re available, to cover its portion of the construction tab. A community fundraising campaign might be required, too.
If all those revenue possibilities fall through, the city could resort to borrowing the money.
The project only has an approval in principle by council. All of the financial details about how the city would pay for a major municipal building haven’t come across council’s table.
There are still outstanding questions about how people would park their vehicles at a new library on LeBreton Flats. A parking garage wasn’t part of the cost estimate and the city wondered if there was a creative way to provide parking, but have it built and managed by an outside company.
The year 2022 has been used as the anticipated opening for a new library. The city says it will revise the project timelines, if necessary, once it knows the government’s decision.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
Picking up where you left off might require thumbing a few pages back to find out what happened.
There’s a council-approved site at 557 Wellington St., which is just west of Albert Street and Bronson Avenue.
However, city hall doesn’t know yet what it will build because it hasn’t heard from its potential development partner, Library and Archives Canada, if the federal government will provide money for its share of the construction program.
Library and Archives spokesman Richard Provencher provided this update: “Discussions on this collaboration project for a shared facility between Library and Archives Canada and the Ottawa Public Library are ongoing. At this moment there is nothing new to report.”
So, the City of Ottawa could close out 2017 with only a paper plan of a new main library. There were higher expectations when council voted on the path forward last February after OPL management and trustees delivered the proposal to city hall. Even Library and Archives thought it would have a decision by last spring.
The city last May issued a request for qualifications for design firms.
That was effectively the last official update on the project.
The Ottawa Public Library asked architect Ajon Moriyama to sketch out a blocking plan for a new central library at 557 Wellington St. The drawing helped the library establish a high-level cost estimate but it is not a design rendering for the building.
Marco Manconi, the manager of design and construction on the project, said the city will let people know when the qualifications process is done.
Really, the city needs to know if the federal government is in or out.
“City and library staff continue to work together for the necessary project approvals and authorities from various departments and agencies,” Manconi said in an email.
“As many city and library processes and approvals are dependent on confirmation of federal government participation, the implementation plan for the central library project has not yet been finalized.”
(Manconi has been the city’s go-to manager for big-ticket projects. He oversaw Lansdowne Park construction and the Arts Court development.)
At the same time, it’s hard to see where a new Library and Archives facility fits into the organization’s priorities.
The current three-year plan under which Library and Archives is operating mentions a massive new preservation facility in Gatineau (which is currently under development) but not additional buildings. In fact, the 2016-2019 plan calls for the current Library and Archives building at 395 Wellington St. in Ottawa to be a “destination of choice.”
The current main library on Metcalfe Street at Laurier Avenue.
The City of Ottawa could build a standalone library, but it would prefer to partner with the federal institution to build a $168-million landmark facility. Under the partnership scheme, the city would be on the hook for $99 million. While the city could knock that down to about $95 million using development charges and reserves, it would lean heavily on the sale of the current Metcalfe Street library building and upper-government grants, if they’re available, to cover its portion of the construction tab. A community fundraising campaign might be required, too.
If all those revenue possibilities fall through, the city could resort to borrowing the money.
The project only has an approval in principle by council. All of the financial details about how the city would pay for a major municipal building haven’t come across council’s table.
There are still outstanding questions about how people would park their vehicles at a new library on LeBreton Flats. A parking garage wasn’t part of the cost estimate and the city wondered if there was a creative way to provide parking, but have it built and managed by an outside company.
The year 2022 has been used as the anticipated opening for a new library. The city says it will revise the project timelines, if necessary, once it knows the government’s decision.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
