As the city council begins its deliberations on next year's budget, one group is lobbying hard for long-awaited investment.
Among items to be considered during tonight's meeting, city council will receive a letter and petition from Friends of the Prince George Public Library with more than 1,300 signatures in support of renovating the entrance to the Bob Harkins branch.
"There remains a clear and immediate need for infrastructure improvement to the downtown branch of the library including a safe, secure and mobility friendly street level entrance," the petition states.
Friends of the Prince George Public Library president Margaret Johnston said the petition was started after it was reported that city staff were suggesting the $2.5 million renovation be moved from the 2015 capital plan to the 2017 unfunded list.
During a budget meeting held last December, council put the plan to rejuvenate the downtown branch to this year's funding list.
But it couldn't be done before the 2015 Canada Winter Games and reserve funds are needed for other high-priority projects, according to a staff report.
"We were pretty disappointed that they were not going to look at it sooner rather than later," Johnston said. "The stairs in the wintertime are treacherous and people have fallen... We've gone long enough with an entrance that's been less than attractive and less than safe."
Earlier this month, council received a letter from the library's board of trustees that also expressed disappointment in the recommendation.
"Although this could not have been completed for the Canada Winter Games, it is needed for our community and the [900-plus] users who enter this building every day," wrote chair Anne George. "The board's concern has not changed regarding the safety of our library users, and the security of our building and its assets... Both entrances do not fit with the renovated or modern fronts of the other buildings on Canada Games Way, despite outnumbering the usage by hundreds of thousands of people."
The city's first meeting discussing next year's budget is Wednesday, beginning at 3:30 in council chambers. There is a public input period between 6 and 6:15 p.m. for residents to speak directly to council about budget issues.
During the first mayoral debate on Oct. 15, candidates Lyn Hall and Don Zurowski both spoke of the library entrance issue.
Zurowski acknowledged that the current portal into the Bob Harkins branch was "not a point of pride" and that he sees the project as a "need rather than a want, but that decision needs to be made on balance with our other infrastructure requirements," he said. "But I can say I wouldn't be interested in building a very large municipal recreational facility until we get to the library entrance."
Hall echoed Zurowski's opinion of the entrance, calling it "an eyesore."
"This building, as with many of our other buildings are getting old and tired and need work," Hall said. "So we're going to have a vigorous discussion at council regarding that piece of work that needs to be done."
Council will be getting a new staff report about the library entrance in the coming weeks, Hall said, which will propose a renovation that's in excess of the current $2.5 million estimate.
The capital list council will deliberate over the next two weeks does have library projects on the 2015 funded list, including $15,000 to replace the 20-year-old public information desk in the children's department and $20,00 to replace servers that are "well beyond their recommended useful life."
