As a result of a $20-million budget increase, Airdrie city council will reconsider the municipality's ongoing library and multi-use facility project at their next meeting.
According to a post on the City of Airdrie's website, council's Nov. 7 meeting will include discussion on "weighing the financial and social risks and benefits" of pursuing the city's library project.
"This will mean looking at not just this facility, but at all new infrastructure and facilities that Airdrie has on the horizon for the next 10 years, including a new regional park, a new recreation centre, a new fire hall, road infrastructure projects and a lift station in the south part of the city," states the news post on Airdrie.ca
Last year, council approved a $12 million increased scope and budget for the library project, the budget for which had risen from just under $50.7 million to approximately $62.7 million. The increase was necessary, according to a presentation to council, in October 2021, to increase the scope of the project from a 60,000-square-foot facility to a 75,000-square-foot facility that included both a full-scale library and other multi-uses. As per the approval, the venue was to be distributed over three floors, and include two levels of underground parking.
But a more recent estimate, presented to council on Oct. 24, suggested the projected cost for the library project is now as high as $83,314,550 – more than $20 million over the previous estimate, and more than $30 million more than the estimate before last year's increase.
"The increase in cost is due to the global trend of construction market escalation over the last 16 months," stated the City's release. "This is the reality in the construction industry right now: like most other goods and services, costs are escalating for construction materials and labour."
Options for council to consider on Nov. 7 will include adjusting the scope of the library and capping its budget at the previously approved $62 million, increasing the budget to $68 million, or postponing the project altogether.
Work has been ongoing for over a year, and the library was expected to open in 2025 at the site of the decommissioned fire hall on Main Street. The site is currently being demolished, with the the expectation it would house the new library facility.
In September, council endorsed the proposed library's schematic design.
The Airdrie City View has reached out to Airdrie Public Library for comment and will update this story with those comments, once they are received.
