Regina Public Library wants plan for Central branch renewal by next March

Regina residents know their downtownlibrary is ready for a facelift, or a complete rebuild, but it's been hard to pin down exactly when thatwill happen.

To help move that process forward, the Regina Public Library issueda request for proposalsThursday, seeking a consultant thatcan review previous renewal studies to create a new plan for the city's Central Library building.

That RFP suggests the city's library service wants a plan in place by next spring.

The downtown building has housed the library and all the services that it has offered since 1962, at which point the city's population was barely half what it is now.

The work included in the request for proposals entails research, analysis and recommendations for a business plan for "a renewed Central Library," according to a media release.

The successful firm's research and planning is intended to help the board of directors decide how to address the library and its renewal something that's urgently needed, according to the Regina Public Library's board chair.

"Right now we're at full capacity in our Central Library, and even at our other eight branches," said Sean Quinlan.

The building's purposehas also morphed since it opened in the 1960s, he said.

"Today in 2019 we have over 7,000 programs that we deal with many dealing with both childhood and adult literacy."

Long road to rejuvenation

The RFPsays that the successful candidate will need to finalize abusiness case by March 23, 2020, in order to allow for"a decision by [Regina Public Library's] board of directors, by March 2020, regarding how to address the future of Central Library."

Once the board of directors assesses the new business plan, it will be one step closer to renewing the biggest and busiest library of Regina's nine library branches.

The conversation around Central Library's future started in 2009, when the city included the branch in plans for a possible community hub.

In 2012, a study outlining the need for a new Central Library was released.Since then, there have been afacility analysis, requests for funding and the creation of a development plan.

The City of Regina is not directly responsible for the library, but willbe included in talks because the building is part of a municipal heritage bylaw.

'What we need is more space'

The most important goal of the entire process is to create more space for the library's functions, which could meantearing the building down and starting from scratch, or renovations to the existing building.

The board of directors doesn't yet know which option it will pursue.

Quinlan notes that the Regina Central Library, which currently measures 75,000 square feet,must double in size.

Hundreds of volunteers go through the library every day, not to mention all the people the library employs. Some staff offices are in the basement, close to outdated boilers.

The building also isn't up to code some windows were even put in backwards and haven't been updated.

"What we need is more space," said Quinlan.