Latest / North Shore News / Estimate for new libraries in Amherstview and Napanee comes in at over $12M each

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Estimate for new libraries in Amherstview and Napanee comes in at over $12M each · North Shore News

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  Lennox and Addington County Council were presented with projected construction costs for two
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  new libraries each totaling over $12 million. Operating cost projections were presented
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  as well at approximately $1.1 million per year. Construction costs are based on January
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  2024 rates while operating costs are still based on 2022 numbers.
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  Annual operating costs do not include any internal staffing changes. An update to the
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  county's library service review was presented to council in 2019 and council approved staff to
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  investigate the development of two future libraries with consideration also given to the
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  future of current smaller community libraries. Director of Community and Development Services
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  Stephen Paul notes the importance of capital planning heading into the development of future budgets.
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  Specifically when we're looking at strategic priorities for council which was capital
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  strategies moving forward and with a few other items from ambulance bases to social housing I
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  thought it was timely to have these numbers in front of council as we start looking at the 2025
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  budget not that we're looking to include it in that budget but certainly as we look at capital
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  planning that would be the ultimate goal. The county hired plus VG architects in 2020 to determine
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  space needs, site options, budgets and operating cost implications. The study was presented to
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  council on January 12th 2022 and has now been updated. Paul explains the work done by the company.
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  They were the architectural firm that did work for us in 2020 and it was presented to
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  council in 2022 just some renderings and some overall costs and when it's all said and done
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  we're looking at approximately 12.1 million per library branch one in Amherstview one in Napa
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  Knee and that cost would include some of the soft costs such as furniture costs equipment fed up
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  in the facilities as well as the architectural fees and engineering fees and all that would be
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  combined to get that amount to 12.1 million dollars. The new library for Amherstview was
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  recommended to be built on the site of the W.J. Henderson Recreation Center in the northwest
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  corner of the property. Costs were calculated based on a two-story building. Two locations were
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  assessed for a Napa Knee library including on the courthouse campus and a second in downtown Napa
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  Knee. Paul notes the breakdown of projected costs. So in the financial impact section we've just
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  really provided an overview of what it would be on an annual cost over 25 years. So for the Amherstview
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  library the financial impact would be one million and ninety thousand dollars approximately and for
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  the Napa Knee location and be looking at about 1.141 for that location per year. For Amherst Island
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  Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative I'm Ted Evans this is North Shore News