Upgrades to West Kildonan Library to cost Winnipeg $6M to $11M

The City of Winnipeg must spend $6 million to $11 million on upgrades to the West Kildonan Library in order to continue using an amenity city council decided to save from the wrecking ball.

In 2022, city council abandoned a plan to shutter the 57-year-old modernist structure on Jefferson Avenue and move the library into rental space in Garden City Shopping Centre. The plan provoked widespread opposition from West Kildonan residents.

A city-commissioned study by architecture firm 1X1 reveals what it will cost to keep West Kildonan Library going. The study, completed in March and published by the city on Wednesday, proposes three options to upgrade the library.

At bare minimum, the city could spend $6.3 million to fix up the library just enough to maintain existing programs and services.

"This option would improve the building condition, address code-compliance life-safety challenges and resolve the most critical accessibility issues," Sandra Sawatzky, asset manager for Winnipeg's community services department, wrote in a report to city council's property and development committee.

The second option involves spending $7.5 million in order to add more programs and services to West Kildonan Library.

The additional cash would allow the city to install a larger elevator that meets modern accessibility standards and add a new tutorial room and a children's reading playground, Sawatzky wrote.

The third option is to build a library addition at a cost of $10.7 million.

This would move the children's area to the main floor and create new tutorial rooms, a meeting room and an outdoor reading garden, Sawatzky wrote.

The projected cost of the three options may vary following the completion of more detailed designs, the report says.

The city has no money set aside for the project, Sawatzky said.

Her report, which goes before the property committee on Tuesday, does not recommend any of the three options.