Summerland will get its new library

FRIDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2014 02:00 AARON D. MCCLELLAND Penticton Herald
SUMMERLAND - The location of Summerland's new library was announced during a Thursday afternoon press conference on the library's future site at the corner of Kelly Avenue and Main Street. The proposed 743-square-metre library will be built where Giants Head Automotive and the Summerland Art Gallery now stand. Those properties, once combined, will be 2,137 square metres, with surface parking and easy access.  Past Okanagan Regional Library chair Carol Zanon introduced the incoming chair, Catherine Lord, who was elected to her position on Wednesday. "We hope to start construction in 2014 and have completion in 2015," said Lord. "Libraries are changing, and this is an opportunity to design a library that is responsive to the community's evolving needs."Mayor Janice Perrino said they hope to break ground in August. "When I was elected, the first thing I heard was that our library was half the size it needed to be," Perrino said, going on to thank the library staff, the Friends of the Library, the ORL board and her council for making it a reality. Perrino gave special thanks to Coun. Peter Waterman, who has worked tirelessly since 2005 to find the library a new home. The cost of the library, which will sit across the street from Summerland Secondary School and the recreation centre, is estimated at $3.2 million. A spokesman for Giants Head Automotive said the municipality has not talked to him about a timeline, nor where, or even if, the repair shop could be relocated. The art gallery, next door, shares the same concerns. David Finnis of the Summerland Community Arts Council said he is working with the municipality on a plan that would see the art gallery move into the old library building on Wharton Street, but no solid plans have been made for the transition. The pottery guild that currently occupies the basement of the art gallery also will need to find a temporary home after its building is demolished. "The months ahead will be challenging as we make the move from our home of 16 years to a new interim facility," Finnis said, adding that the art gallery may find a temporary home in a vacant building on Main Street near Victoria until the old building is ready. Perrino vowed to work closely with everyone affected to ensure their needs are met during the construction phase. "Council is very supportive of this project," she said. "The new branch will enhance the downtown core and provide better library service for the citizens of Summerland."