Behind the scenes of the extreme makeover at the Peterborough Public Library with construction due for completion in October
ThePeterboroughExaminer.com
June 9, 2017
Joelle Kovach
Construction at the Peterborough Public Library should be done sometime in October, say city staff - and the library should be open about three weeks later.
Gillian Barnes, the city's project manager for facilities, said the $12-million renovation and expansion project is pretty much on schedule: the plan had always been to reopen in the fall of 2017.
Barnes said that once construction is done, it should take about three weeks to move the library collection over from its temporary location in the lower level of Peterborough Square.
She also said she doesn't expect to have to ask city council for any extra money to finish the project.
It may not look anywhere near done from the outside, but reporters were toured around the interior on Friday afternoon to see the progress.
Ken Doherty, the city's director of community services, said the interior finishes will be completed swiftly once the building is closed from the outside.
"With a project like this, as soon as it's completely enclosed, things move quickly," he said.
One of the main interior features that's been done is the new stairway to the lower level.
A large opening was created in the floor for a new staircase. Architect Peter Berton, of the Ventin Group in Toronto, was on site Friday; he said the idea is to draw light from the upper-level clerestory window into the basement.
"It interconnects the two floors," he said. "Now you're not in a basement: you're in a lower level. And it feels that way."
The main branch of the Peterborough Public Library on Aylmer St. is more than 30 years old and has never undergone a renovation.
It was designed by architect Ray Moriyama, who also designed the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Peter Berton, the architect who has designed the renovation and expansion of the Peterborough Public Library, is the son of the late Canadian writer Pierre Berton.
