$10.8 million library expansion project set to begin in King City

King City Public Library is being moved to the lower level of the King City Seniors Centre temporarily

Yorkregion.com
July 29, 2018
Sheila Wang

The King City Public Library is closed after July 28 to get ready for the $10.8-million library and seniors' centre expansion project.

The current King City library stops its service after 5 p.m. on July 28 and will be temporarily moved to the lower level of the King City Seniors' Centre at 30 Fisher St.

Mobilization works will start in the week of July 30 at the library's current location in preparation for the construction project, which is expected to begin soon. No official start date has been set yet.

“We were delighted that the council was supportive and that we’re moving forward. I just can’t wait for it to be built,” said the library’s Chief Executive Officer Rona O’Banion.

King Township approved the library expansion project at a council meeting earlier this month to update and modernize the King branch to meet the growing public library needs.

King City's population is projected to grow to 12,000 by 2021, almost doubling the current population.

One goal of the project is to bring the library services up to provincial standards, including accessibility standards, according to King Township Communications Officer Jason Ballantyne.

The new library will include a space to accommodate the new seniors' centre, which would relocate from its current location on Fisher Street.

King Township council and the board of the current King City seniors' centre decided to include a new seniors' centre in the new King City library for the purpose of saving money from having to build a separate seniors' centre, according to Ballantyne.

The library expansion, with an estimated cost of $10.8 million, will see the footprint of the existing building increase from 7,839 square feet to just over 20,000 square feet.

“While there will still be traditional public library materials, there will also be a lot of public gathering space, there will be dedicated maker or hacker space, and a dedicated teen area and study rooms,” O’Banion said.

The township will finance the cost through development-charge reserves, debentures and tax-supported capital.

"Public space is precious," said Sylvia Pal, chair of the King Township Library Board. "And what we do with it speaks volume about what is important to us as a community."

The project is expected to take a year to 18 months to be complete, according to O’Banion.

Before then, residents can go to the branch’s temporary location, which is set to resume service on September 4, 2018. Residents can access the temporary location via Doctors Lane and the arena parking lot.

The library at the temporary location will have roughly 30 per cent of its current collection, including DVDs, adult fiction and non-fiction, children’s fiction and non-fiction, young adult, magazines and newspapers, and select local history.

All electronic resources will remain unaffected by the construction and temporary location.

Residents are encouraged to visit the library’s building blog at ktplibrary.wordpress.com for all updated information on the construction process.