5 things to know before Monday's big city council vote on a new downtown library

Monday is decision day for Saskatoon city council, with the leaders of the Saskatoon Public Library (SPL) set to make their final pitch for the long-gestating new downtown Saskatoon library branch.

"We hear across the board from council support for a new central library in Saskatoon," Carol Cooley, SPL's CEO, said last week. 

Some councillors, notably Ward 4 councillor Troy Davies, have flagged the $152.7-million price tag. So have some residents in recent letters to the city. That cost estimate is set in 2026 dollars (the year eyed for opening) and includes a 25-per-cent contingency. 

Councillors are being asked to approve SPL's 2020 capital budget, with the new library taking up the vast majority of that budget. 

The maximum cost estimate breaks down as follows: 

• $15 million in private contributions and donations. SPL will hire a company to run this should council vote in support of the capital budget. 
• $4.6 million from selling the land that the current Frances Morrison Central Library sits on. SPL owns that land. 
• $45.6 million from a special reserve fund that was launched by SPL a decade ago. Right now, the fund contains $27.8 million. 
• $87.5 million in borrowed money. The city will do the borrowing on behalf of the library because the library itself can't borrow. Law also requires that city councillors approve this borrowing. 

How Monday's meeting will unfold is anyone's guess. 

Davies has said he will be asking other councillors to join him in requiring SPL to go back to the drawing board for a cheaper plan, which would put the project's timeline in doubt. Davies would need five other votes. 

The Halifax factor

Halifax's newest library, which opened at a cost of $57.6 million, has come up a lot during council's recent discussions about Saskatoon's new library. 

Cooley and the chair of the SPL board, Lisa Erickson, said the comparison to Halifax is unfair. 

"That library was built several years ago and so we have to factor in inflation," Erickson said. "The other thing to be cognizant of is that [our project price] is all-inclusive. It includes things like land and furniture and public art."

The Halifax project didn't include the head office, while Saskatoon's project does, Erickson added. 

"We're really not comparing apples and apples," she said. 

5 questions about a new downtown library in Saskatoon

5 years ago

Duration 2:14

Saskatoon city councillors will vote Monday on whether to support building a new downtown library. We sat down with the CEO and board chair of the Saskatoon Public Library to ask five key questions. Here's what they said.

Here are five other new or expanded details Cooley and Erickson shared ahead of Monday's vote:

1. Rebuilding at the current Frances Morrison site has been ruled out

The downtown branch has been at the corner of 23rd Street E. and Fourth Avenue N. since the building opened in 1966.

Ward 2 councillor Hilary Gough, who sits on the SPL board, has said the land may sell for more than the $4.6 million currently projected. 

2. Details about the location could be coming soon

Cooley and Erickson looked genuinely excited when this subject came up during an interview about the proposal. SPL has been working behind the scenes with the city to scout a few potential locations.

"We are really hopeful that we can share some more information in the not too distant future," Erickson said, while declining to specify if that announcement would come soon after Monday's vote or even by the end of the year. 

The city has said the public will be consulted about the candidate sites once they're revealed. 

"We actually are anxious to share," Cooley said.

"We really can't wait," Erickson echoed. 

• Saskatoon Library has a shortlist of candidate sites for replacing downtown branch

Several councillors have asked why SPL isn't suggesting the library be paired with another facility (say, a new downtown arena) in the same building. 

Erickson said "we're not willing to compromise….[on] free and open access to the public."

SPL is also leery of being blown off-course.

"With large projects, the timelines don't always align," Erickson said. 

3. Will the name of the main branch be changed?

The existing branch is named after Frances Morrison, the chief librarian when it opened 53 years ago. 

"We haven't had that conversation," Cooley said of whether to change the name. 

Is it a possibility?

"There are so many decisions with a large project like this," Erickson said. "You've identified one that we'll think through."

4. The design contract won't be sole-sourced 

The new library is an SPL project, not a city one. 

Still, "it's taxpayers' dollars," Cooley said. "So we would be prudent to go out to a competition and not sole source. I don't think it would be appropriate to sole-source for this project."

5. The new building is expected to last 50 years 

"Generally I would say that has been the experience of major capital buildings," Cooley said, adding that 50 is a typical lifespan for libraries. 

The library building that preceded the current Frances Morrison branch — on 23rd Street, next to a fire station — operated for 37 years, from 1928 to 1965. 

Bonus: 3 final stray bits 

• The library needs more bathrooms. It currently has four stalls. The plan calls for an additional 33 stalls. "On a daily basis we have people lining up and waiting to use the washrooms," Cooley said. 
• The local history room will not just grow in size. For the first time, it will include climate-controlled spaces to preserve its many artifacts.
• Community outreach workers, who assist Saskatoon's more vulnerable population, "will have a purpose-built space," Cooley said. "Right now we've kind of converted an old office and the outreach workers are located in a different part of the building and in that office temporarily."

Monday's vote on the library budget is taking place within the larger 2020 budget talks, which are set to kick off at 1 p.m. CST.

Read our other recent coverage of this issue, including information on the tax implications for residents:

• Building a new downtown library a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity, councillor says
• Saskatoon city councillor says new library is too costly, seeks support for cheaper pla
• Maybe rethink the space? City of Saskatoon weighs in on $154M downtown library pla
• 6 Saskatoon groups tell why they want a new downtown librar
• Why not a high-rise on top? Plus 6 other burning questions facing a new $154M Saskatoon library