After five months of waiting for an official sale to go through on the new site of Powell River Public Library, library staff and City of Powell River officials said they are relieved to bring the project to the next stage of construction.
The library’s board of trustees announced on Wednesday, January 27, the city had officially purchased the building at Crossroads Village on Alberni Street from Futurevest Investment Corporation. The pending sale was first announced on August 31, 2015.
According to chief librarian Terry Noreault, construction will begin as soon as possible, with a target opening date of mid-August to October of this year.
“We’re really excited that we’ve moved the project to the next stage and can start building,” said Noreault.
Part of the delay in advancing the project was the time it took to have the building subdivided for the city’s purchase of the section of the building closest to Alberni Street, according to Tor Birtig, director of infrastructure.
Lifting the conditions of the sale, securing long-term leases for the upstairs tenants and agreeing on the details of the contract and construction materials with Futurevest were also part of the delay, he said.
“The process ended up taking a lot longer than we initially anticipated. It became a complicated transaction due to things like the subdivision,” said Birtig, “but now we’re happy to move forward and get this building going.”
The signed agreement between the city and Futurevest, a corporation owned by Powell River residents Michele Sauve, Réal Sigouin and Kevin Sigouin, as well as two former residents, Fred Formosa and Francis Sauve, states that Futurevest will undertake the design and build of the new library under the direction of Formosa, cousin to mayor Dave Formosa.
Now that the sale is official, Futurevest has begun seismic testing to get the building up to requirements and construction plans will be finalized over the next month, said Noreault.
Although the five-month delay was concerning at times, library staff members have been busy preparing for their eventual move to the new site.
“We always like to see things go faster because we are eager to get into the new library,” said Noreault, “but we’ve also been busy getting our specifications for furnishing, and getting local craftspeople to put in bids, so we have been making progress. We’re really happy we’re now at the point to start seeing it take shape.”
According to a referendum passed in November 2014, the city can borrow up to $3.5 million for the $4.9-million project, with the remaining $1.4 million to come from fundraising.
The library’s board of trustees is also excited about the next steps and is concentrating on raising money for the new location, according to vice chair Charlotte Gill.
“I feel incredibly happy that the sale has gone through, and I think the rest of the board is also thrilled,” said Gill. “We’ve been waiting for this ever since the referendum, and now our job is to get the capital campaign going to raise the $1.4 million so we can open the doors as quickly as possible.”
According to Noreault, the delay in the official sale should not set back the new library’s opening date, which will become firmer once construction plans are finalized. Noreault said he understands there can be delays in large building projects, but he is confident Futurevest will have the new library completed in time.
“We’ll see how well the construction goes, but we’re in good shape,” said Noreault, “and I’m confident we can meet those timelines.”
Birtig said Futurevest and its subcontractors are very experienced. Contract deadlines and penalties will also keep the project on schedule, he said.
It is anticipated the build will take seven to eight months, not including time to move books over from the old library location.
“At this point we’re not overly concerned with that schedule being unachievable,” said Birtig. “As the project rolls along, we think we’ve planned well enough that we won’t have delays, but you never know with renovations; there could be things that crop up.”
Noreault said library staff and trustees are focused on getting into the new building as soon as possible.
“Everyone is really positive about the end result,” he said. “It’s motivating to think we’ll have a larger facility to deliver so much better service in.”
