Cookstown library gets grant
By Chris Simon

The design for the new Cookstown library and community centre.

Cookstown will be seeing millions of dollars in provincial funding coming its way for a new library facility.

On Friday, the Innisfil Public Library Board received notification from the Ontario government that their Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative application had been fully approved. That means the board will receive over $2.85 million in funding for the construction of the new Cookstown library and community centre.

The new library is scheduled to be built on the site of the old Cookstown Agricultural Fairgrounds.

Library board chair Lillian Owen was ecstatic over the news.

"We found out that we have received the grant," she said. "We were advised, in February, that there were some grant funds available to municipalities for projects that were ready to go. We applied for $2.85 (million) and that's what we received. We're quite thrilled about it."

She says the library is a necessary addition to the Cookstown landscape. Once complete, the $3.5 million project would feature 9,000 square feet of space, and include adult, young adults and children's sections, program, community and informal "living" rooms, and office space.

An outdoor reading garden and folding partition walls are also a part of the design. Outside, the centre could also feature a baseball diamond, running track, soccer pitch, tennis courts, multi-use concrete surface and a children's spray pad.

However, budget constraints had forced architects to scale back the scope of the project, cutting a washroom and wheelchair accessible doors from entrances facing the outdoor field areas, and holding doors between the walkway and community room from current plans.

Owen says the funding now means the project can go ahead as originally planned.

"Now we can build the library the way we had originally intended. We had to do some serious cuts because prices had come up higher than we anticipated," she said.

"I'm sure the Cookstown people must be dancing in the street. It's great news for Cookstown (and its residents). The people in Cookstown use the library a lot, and there was a need to make it larger to serve the community better."

Town treasurer Ian Goodfellow says the funding is greatly beneficial to the municipality.

"What a great way to end the week, this is fantastic news that the Town's application has been successful. We are thrilled to have the province partner with the town on this community project. This grant will greatly reduce the town's debt requirements for this project and as a result reduce future operating budgets", he said. "The library board and community members are to be commended for supporting the Town's application."

Over 240 applications were approved across the province, totalling $450 million in funding. The program provides funding for social infrastructure projects, like hospitals, schools, universities, roads, bridges, sewers and libraries.

"The main issue with the current facility is accessibility," said Owen. "It's a small facility, but it's not accessible for people with impediments. Over the years, we've received complaints from parents. That was the main driving force."