Sylvan Lake’s library expansion will be part of town council’s budget discussions early next year.
Red Deer’s Berry Architecture and Associates has been hired to design the revamp, which will see the library expand into space left by the departing archives.
The archives are moving into a space in the newly completed Municipal Government Building.
About 900 square feet will be added and used to create a much-needed public meeting space.
Existing meeting rooms will be turned into additional space for books.
The changes, which will see major renovations to the inside to better serve the public, will buy some time until a new library is built.
Work was expected to cost around $400,000.
Tenders for the project were opened on Thursday but the results were not available on Monday.
Sylvan Lake’s 2012 Feasibility Study for a Community Complex said the existing library was undersized and recommended a new one be built as part of the first phase for a new community hub.
However, a household survey ranked the project eighth out of 10 facilities that needed upgrading in the next three to five years.
Given the library ranking, “it was recommended by administration that the library could comfortably operate out of the existing location for the foreseeable future with an expansion to occupy the entire building when the archives relocated to the Municipal Government Building,” says a recent report to council from Ron Lebsack, director of community services.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com