Millennium Library set to open this fall
New funding for park contributes to vision for downtown
Tessa Vanderhart, Staff
Photo by Scott Stevens.
Although there is no definitive opening date, beneficiaries of Winnipeg’s largest library project, the Millennium Library, are excited about what the fall will bring for patrons of Winnipeg libraries.
The Millennium — a refurbished version of the grand Centennial Library, which served downtown Winnipeg since its creation in 1967 — will reopen this fall. Changes will include improvements to the park directly south of the library, the addition of a fourth floor and a reading terrace, and improvements to the structure of the building.
Bob Legal is a communications coordinator on behalf of Winnipeg Public Libraries. He dispels the myths regarding speculated opening dates quite simply: it is just too early to tell. However, he affirms that an official date of opening will be released in the very near future, as the Library is projected to be ready early this fall.
Before the library can reopen, however, $600,000 in funding must be procured by the Winnipeg Library Foundation, to cap off a total of $18 million.
Todd Pennel one of two paid staff at the non-profit, world-renowned Winnipeg Library Foundation said that the city was able to afford this project through the help of the foundation’s capital fundraising, largely executed by three-dozen volunteers.
“It’s an important project for the city of Winnipeg,” said Pennel. “It’s an increase of the book collection that’s available to all library branches, an increase in the programs and services that the library can offer. Eighty-five per cent of the people who use the downtown library don’t live in the downtown area.”
“The downtown branch is also the neighbourhood branch for the poorest areas of the city . . . so access to resources like public computers is very important. A public library is the single source of truely lifelong learning available in any society. It’s free to everybody, no matter what age or level of education, so it’s an essential service, and it needed a boost.”
In addition to its other roles, the Winnipeg Library Foundation will be supplementing book collections, finding money for Winnipeg public libraries on an as-needed basis. Pennel hopes that all members of the community, especially university students who are more likely to use the library services, will contribute even in small amounts.
Ivan Didiuk, central director of the Canada-Manitoba Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (MRIF), said that plans for improvements to the library park should make the library a downtown destination. The Fund, which finances public infrastructure projects from the federal and provincial governments in concurrence with various communities — in this case the City of Winnipeg — recently announced $2.1 million to improve the park directly behind the library.
“This is a small project compared to the overall enhancement and expansion of the Winnipeg Millennium Public Library itself,” Didiuk said. “Given that the library park, the outside portion, was in a bit of disarray, it was considered to be a good adjunct to work on the park itself as part of the overall project. So it’s a whole, big project and this funding for the park is just one part of it.”
There is no date provided for completion of the urban green space as the project is in the process of developing a concept map. Didiuk said that the library park should open at the same time as the Millennium Library, most likely in October or early November 2005.
