The Windsor Public Library Board announced the sale of Central Library to the Downtown Mission in February with the building scheduled to change hands at the end of June next year. Since then we have looked at over 20 possible temporary sites to house the Central Branch while plans are firmed up for a new permanent downtown location.
At the regular June meeting of the WPL Board they unanimously passed a motion to move to a temporary location at 400 City Hall Square East and the recently opened new City Hall building. Plans are currently being finalized for library services to be spread over 3 floors of the new city hall, with library administration and auxiliary services in the 400 building.
“The City Hall campus location,” says City of Windsor Mayor and WPL Board Chair, Drew Dilkens, “will provide the appropriate time to properly research, review and ultimately select an optimum site for a permanent downtown WPL Central Library.”
The new City Hall Branch is in a prime location close to bus and bicycle routes with plenty of parking available in the area. Materials and resources not making the move to the new location will be distributed to other library branches. Library staff has already begun to formulate transition plans and will be working hard to ensure the temporary location is a welcoming public library space.
Selling the Main Library was a bad idea. Shared use and refurbishing the existing Main Branch Library was never legitimately explored. Selling the Main Library before a plan is in place is only proof of a of politically controlled Board, naive and wasteful City politicians and City Administration. The whole exercise will cost much more than refurbishing would have, a loss of books, art and proper public space. The end result of proposed new Main Library the same size as a Branch Library and the outright lie of getting new Library equivalent to the new Halifax Main Library. Shame!
As a taxpayer, a very senior (87) user of the library for over 70 years, I am unable to understand why the board decided to sell the main library and expect long time users to be able to use the temporary location. I think the wish to unload the library was the main reason for selling it, regardless of the cost and convenience to hundreds of us, who gone to the library for decades. Shame on all who took part in this decision. I will be watching to see the actual number of people who access the new location. Perhaps, one of the board members wii offer to drive me and escort me up four floors borrow a few books? Since they are all younger than I, it shouldn’t be a problem, perhaps Mayor Dilkens will show me around and explain to me why this is a good site for our library. Helen Slavik, 3775 St. Patrick’s, Windsor, Ont.
Obviously a plan that suits the program and finances of the city better than it suits the users of the library. The ‘plenty of parking’ is laughable. I can park near the current location for free. There is not free parking downtown, so seniors will have to be able to spend $1.75 or more an hour for parking…. which will, of course make it unreasonable for most to spend any ore than minimal time there. All in all, it feels like seniors (who are a significant number of the patrons of the library) have been given no consideration in this plan… as happens consistently with plans the city institutes.
I am a new resident to Windsor, and while I appreciate the Public Library system, I am surprised to see that of all the Branches, the oldest building (Budimir) dates from the 60’s. I was expecting to see, at least, the Main Branch to be an old, historical building, but alas I see that even that building (which is not very old) is of no value to the political leaders. If there is really a need to move from one building to another, and spend a lot of the taxpayers money, why not renovate, refurbish, an old building and preserve some of the city’s history?
I am thrilled with the new location for the library .I am looking forward to going to the new location & also getting to see our new city Hall. Thank you for not moving to far
away .I look forward to the move next year.
Which bus goes by the 400 Building on City Hall Square? None. It takes a lot longer than 5 minutes to walk from Park & Ouellette to City Hall Square. The typical City of Windsor and Public Library Board short-sightedness and discrimination.
What about the auxiliary services that are important for a lot of people that are in need? Example: The LSP.