The Wellington County Library Board, on May 14, accepted the recommendation of its design committee to hire Grinham Architects for the renovation of the Palmerston Library.
The library has also announced it will hold a public meet and greet session at the Palmerston facility on May 24 from 10am to 1pm.
“This will provide the public a chance to talk with the architects and library staff about their vision for a renovated library,” stated chief librarian Murray McCabe. McCabe notes no formal presentations will be made at the meeting. However, comment cards are available at the library for patrons to provide their ideas which will be shared with the architect.
The library system also offers an online survey form that can and has been used to collect suggestions from the public about the future of the Palmerston (Carnegie) Library.
The architects have also set up a special email account that patrons and residents of Palmerston can send their messages through – palmerstonlibraryideas@gmail.com.
The design process will take place over the next few months with renovations expected to start at the end of 2014 or during the first month of 2015, with a completion date in the late fall of 2015. The county has budgeted $3 million for the project.
The architect of the original building was William Frye Colwill (1902). McCabe notes Palmerston may well have been one of the first joint-use community facilities built.
“We know from the book The Best Gift, which focuses on Carnegie libraries in Ontario – the building of Palmerston library went beyond the intent of the Carnegie grant and it changed the approval process for libraries that came afterwards … the process becoming much more strict,” stated McCabe, adding, “112 years later the building is still very much in use and about to have a good update that will see it serve that community for hopefully another 100 years.”
