Supporters worry plans for new Winnipeg library branch could mean end of West Kildonan location

Cameron MacLean · CBC News

· Posted: May 08, 2025 8:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A metropolis program to lease abstraction for a caller room successful northwest Winnipeg has immoderate room supporters disquieted the program could spell doom for different beloved branch.

The metropolis wants to lease abstraction successful Garden City Shopping Centre for a caller northwest library.

On Thursday, the spot and improvement committee voted successful favour of the plan, which needs last support from council.

In 2022, the city considered closing the West Kildonan Library branch connected Jefferson Avenue and moving that subdivision to a abstraction successful the mall, but abandoned that program aft assemblage pushback.

The Jefferson Avenue gathering needs large renovations, but determination are nary plans for immoderate enactment connected it, a metropolis spokesperson told CBC News successful an email.

"Along with galore others, we are acrophobic that the caller subdivision volition beryllium utilized arsenic an excuse to adjacent the West Kildonan branch," Harriet Zaidman of the Friends of the West Kildonan Library told the property committee connected Thursday.

"Barring immoderate enactment connected the building, we deliberation this interest is warranted."

The metropolis began considering relocating the West Kildonan subdivision successful 2012. 

In 2022, metropolis spot managers concluded it would beryllium cheaper for the metropolis to renovate the Garden City abstraction and wage rent than to bargain onshore and physique a caller room space.

The West Kildonan subdivision gathering was built successful 1967. A study successful May 2024 outlined options for renovations, with costs ranging from $6.3 cardinal to much than $10.7 million.

The extortion needed replacing wrong 18 months, that study said, but assembly did not acceptable speech backing for the work.

Under the cheapest enactment presented to councillors, the metropolis could walk $6.3 cardinal to hole up the West Kildonan room conscionable capable to support existing programs and services.

A 2nd option, which would cost $7.5 million, would person allowed much programs and services to beryllium added at West Kildonan Library, and would person allowed for a larger elevator, a caller tutorial country and a children's speechmaking playground.

A 3rd enactment was gathering a room summation astatine a outgo of $10.7 million.

Property committee seat Coun. Evan Duncan says determination are nary plans to adjacent immoderate room branches, but neither are determination plans for large repairs astatine the West Kildonan branch.

"That doesn't mean that successful aboriginal years that can't alteration and that we can't look astatine making changes to amended the services, whether it beryllium programs oregon conscionable the infrastructure there," the Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood councillor told reporters.

If the program for the caller northwest subdivision is approved, the metropolis plans to walk much than $2 cardinal to renovate the astir 14,500-square-foot Garden City space. Annual rent would scope from conscionable over $210,000 to astir $232,000 implicit 15 years, with operating costs estimated astir $205,000 per year.