A $2.8 million provincial grant will take much of the financial sting out of building Cookstown’s new $5.7 million library and community centre.
The municipal infrastructure grant comes as great relief to local officials who saw the estimated cost of the project balloon due to unforeseen land preparation issues.
Lillian Owen, chairperson of the Innisfil Public Library board, was thrilled to hear the news.
“The library board can now build a library that fully meets the needs of the community,” Owen said.
Town treasurer Ian Goodfellow, whose department prepared and submitted the grant application, commented “What a great way to end the week. This is fantastic news the Town’s application has been successful. We are thrilled to have the Province partner with us on this community project. This grant will greatly reduce the Town’s debt requirements for this project and as a result, reduce future operating budgets. The public library board and our community members are to be commended for supporting the Town’s application.”
At Wednesday night’s council meeting, Coun. Rod Boynton, who represents the Town on the Innisfil Public Library board of directors, was effusive in his praise of both Goodfellow and library CEO Susan Downs for the work they did preparing the submission.
The proposal for the approximate 9,000 square foot structure was recommended in the 2002 Innisfil Culture, Parks and Recreation Master Plan, commissioned for the town that examined future requirements for the next 20 years.
In 2005, a separate needs assessment was completed, recommending a 5,645 square-foot library, plus an additional 3,355 square feet of community space, including multi-purpose rooms.
The money is especially welcome since initial cost estimates for the project have ballooned due to unanticipated costs that must be borne for site preparation work such as water drainage.
Municipal infrastructure servicing the library site is also outdated and needs upgrading to bring it to modern standard.
Secondary issues, such as the installation of a left turn lane, upgrades to neighbouring streets, and paving, will all add to the project costs, Downs said.
The province received a total of 462 applications for MIII funding. Innisfil’s
project was one of 243 approved.
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