Regina Public Library to seek help from city for new central location

Regina Public Library is getting the ball rolling on finding a new location for its central branch.

The library’s board voted to request help from city hall during a special meeting held on Tuesday.

The board discussed the results of the expression of interest that was issued in March. Board chair Marj Gavigan said the findings were quite positive.

“There were developers who were quite interested in partnering with the library and working with the library, and that they had ideas,” she told reporters after the meeting.

“(It was) not just something that we had to sort of sit back and come up with all of the ideas, but the developers have thoughts as well on where the library could go and what it could be.”

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Although developers expressed interest, Gavigan said they weren’t confident that a new location could be built without support from council.

“We’ve been at this for years, and so until we get a commitment from city council that the funding will be there, they’re (just not) convinced that it’s going to go ahead,” Gavigan said.

According to the library’s feasability study, the philanthropic community felt the same way.

Gavigan and the board said the library does not currently have the space to accommodate Regina’s growing population. She expressed concern that some of the current building’s issues could force a closure.

“We cross our fingers every day that we’re going to be able to continue on in this building, but with some of the issues that we have, that risk is still there,” she said.

Regina Public Library’s board said it received positive feedback from its expression of interest.
(Daniel Reech/980 CJME)

RPL’s board estimated costs for a new building based on a 125,000-square-foot plan instead of the original proposal of 159,000 square feet. Gavigan said the board made that decision partly because of post-pandemic inflationary costs.

The current central branch building is about 75,000 square feet.

The estimated cost for the project was between $125 million and $150 million – though the library noted that current estimates don’t reflect a high a degree of certainty.

The library has adequate reserve funding to launch the project, but needs long-term funding to advance with procurement.

The board plans to ask council for a 5.5 per cent increase in its mill rate year-over-year for five years, beginning in 2025. The board said that rate is equivalent to 0.5 per cent of the city’s year-over-year mill rate, and would be an increase of roughly 92 cents per month for the average household for each year.

If city support is obtained, the library will also launch a fundraising campaign with a goal of $3 million, and will work to secure grants from other levels of government as well.

The library is hoping to begin construction in 2026 and open the new building in 2030.

“The central library is a community hub. There is no other place downtown that acts as that for any people,” Gavigan said.

“We are sort of the last free place that people can come. It doesn’t cost them any money to come in. It’s accessible to everybody, and so I think that’s really important for any city.”

Should council not approve the request, the library board said it would find itself back at the drawing board in terms of its next steps.