Work to create another accessible entrance is underway at Sarnia’s downtown library.
“It’s exciting to get it started and it is expected to take 10 to 12 weeks to complete,” city facilities manager Tom Burnard said about the $202,000 project recently awarded to Cope Construction and Contracting Inc.
The work includes upgrading the rear basement entrance used by staff, along with lighting and sign improvements, Burnard said.
“These are upgrades are to provide our staff and visitors safe and accessible access to the facility that’s highly utilized,” he said.
The upgrade has been eyed for years and is one of many recent projects at the branch, including front entrance renovations and adding accessible washrooms in 2019, and air conditioning improvements in 2018.
AT fire in 2017 destroyed an electrical transformer and spread smoke and soot throughout the building, prompting several emergency purchases.
A 2014 report recommended redoing the interior to make it more inviting, adding more windows and new entrances to access adjacent Veterans Park, and to upgrade mechanical and safety systems.
Final inspections for HVAC and electrical work, meanwhile, were completed earlier this year, Burnard.
A $352,000 contract for that work was awarded in 2020, up to $545,000 in 2021 after new ductwork, asbestos abatement and equipment costs came to light, and then another $108,000 contract was awarded in 2022 “to address previous contractor deficiencies,” a city report said.
A planned boiler replacement was nixed “due to costs exceeding the original budget,” Burnard said.
Air conditioning improvements were also completed at the branch
Details about other projects planned for the library weren’t available from Burnard.
There’s $125,000 penciled in for 2024 in the city’s 10-year capital plan.
The city had put aside $250,000 for the back entrance work in 2023, so there’s also some savings there.
About $4.5-million in renovations over 10 years were planned in 2018.
The County of Lambton operates the library in the city-owned, 1960s-built facility at Christina and Wellington streets.
The county also made $160,000 in seating and lighting improvements to the connected 364-seat library theater in 2019.
“The city always continues to work with the county on any future considerations,” Burnard said.
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