Renovations and an expansion to the Fergus library branch could begin this fall, if the project proceeds as planned.
Last week, members of the Wellington County Library Board set up a design committee to start working on what will be sent to the Ventin Group and L. Alan Grinham, architects who will compete to provide the best design for the project.
Library board members also endorsed the 2012 budget and five-year financial plan that includes $5 million set aside for the Fergus library project - $2.5 million this year and next, to be funded equally by the county's property reserve and borrowing.
County council approved the library board's recommendation to start the design competition and set up the design committee, at the November meeting. The Fergus library is one of 14 branches run by Wellington County; the library board that oversees library operations includes the county's information, heritage and seniors committee plus four representatives of the public.
If the project follows the timeline laid out in a committee report presented Jan. 11, the architect would be chosen and specific design work started in the spring, with construction tenders issued in the summer for a construction start this fall.
If the projected timeline is followed, it is expected that a newly expanded and renovated Fergus library would reopen to the public in the fall of 2013, the budget explanation states.
Renovating or expanding the Fergus library has been in the county's five-year plan since 2007, when it was decided to keep all three Centre Wellington libraries. Originally, it was to be the last of the three to be worked on, but planned renovations to the Aboyne branch were rescheduled - in 2012 the roof is scheduled to be repaired, with upgrades to the office space now slated for 2014.
The county renovated and expanded the Elora library in 2009, adding an elevator, turning the basement into programming space, and completely renovating the interior.
Renovating the Fergus library, one of the county's Carnegie library buildings, is complicated by the building's downtown location, with almost no spare land on either side, and with the laneway and parking lot behind the building.