Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 19/02) - If council agrees with its public service committee, city administration will have two years to plan a new location for the library.

A report written by Calgary-based Library Planning Consultants suggested that the cost of building a stand-alone library is only marginally higher than maintaining the current location in the Centre Square Mall.

Maintaining the current library location for the next 20 years will cost $4.61 million, according to a financial analysis included in the report. Building a new facility will cost $4.88 million, a cost which would be offset by the sale of the Centre Square location, which is worth an estimated $2.95 million.

The study estimates the city will need an additional 2,081 square feet of space by 2016. Those needs can be accommodated in the current location using a series of expansions over the next 15 years.

The expansions, which include adding another elevator, would cost an estimated $656,386.

Administration had recommended sticking with the status quo. But committee members had other plans.

"We're paying $205,000 a year in condo fees at the present location and that money could be better used somewhere else," said Coun. Robert Hawkins.

"The condo fees alone could pay for this (new) facility."

Hawkins pushed for administration to consider using the grounds at Mildred Hall school to build the new library. Other committee members supported the idea of a new library building, but urged administration to look into other alternatives. Coun. Alan Woytuik said the Gerry Murphy arena site would be ideal.

He conjured up visions of a library nestled in a park overlooking the lake.

In that kind of setting, he said, "the esthetics and whole experience of going to the library changes dramatically."

Woytuik dislikes the current location because "the second floor in a mall is not a good presence in the community."

In the end, the committee recommended giving administration two years to come up with a specific plan for building a new facility. That plan would include location and a detailed costing.

Council will deliberate the recommendation at its April 22 meeting.

Although the committee unanimously passed the recommendation, some councillors oppose the idea.

Dave Ramsay said the city has already dumped enough money into the Centre Square location.

"It's not ideal, but if you make your bed, you've to sleep in it for a while."

An expensive past

Yellowknife has already paid almost twice over for its current library. The city began leasing the location in 1991 for $452,000 a year. The plan was to pay for five years, then take ownership for $1.

But in 1994, Centre Square Developments threatened to declare bankruptcy. City lawyers had not placed a lien on the property, and stood to lose millions.

So the city restructured the deal. It agreed to lease the library for another three years. Then in 1997, it borrowed $3.5 million -- full price -- to buy the location outright.

Now, the city makes annual debt servicing payments of $460,000 on the building.

Seven years after the restructuring, the city is still involved in a suit against the lawyers who failed to include a lien against the property.