Aylmer library options: costs $6-million and up

Aylmer council, meeting at Old Town Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 15, will discuss the cost of three options for potentially enlarging the downtown branch of the Elgin County library or building a new one, with costs ranging from $6.2-million to $8.9-million.

The costliest option, according to JPM Architecture, would be $8.9-million to put an addition on and renovate Old Town Hall.

A new standalone building in the parkette south of Old Town Hall would cost $6.2-million, while alternatively one on the east side of John would cost $6.6-million.

The architect suggested that the renovation and addition would cost $583 per square foot, and new buildings $271 a square foot.

Council members, in a 5-2 vote earlier this year, under pressure to put up or shut up about keeping the library downtown instead of moving to a larger space offered to Elgin County at East Elgin Community Complex, authorized spending up to $250,000 on investigating three design options and providing cost estimates for each.

See the Oct. 15 edition of The Aylmer Express for full details.