By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

red deer county provides contribution

Elnora working on getting new library up and running

Oct 23, 2024 | 1:56 PM

The Village of Elnora and local group, Elnora Friends of the Library, are on track to install a new library.

A request from the village came to Red Deer County council this week for $50,000 to be put toward the project. Council approved half that amount.

Facility development is costing $318,020; that includes the $25,000 from the County, $127,850 from the village itself, $15,170 of leftover Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding, and, if approved, a $125,000 CFEP grant.

The village has said that if the Friends of the Library are not successful with their CFEP grant application, it will apply for funding through the Local Government Fiscal Framework, which is the provincial program evolved from MSI.

The $25,000 from the county also means there’s still $25,000 unspoken for that would need to be found to meet the project’s budget.

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“The library board and librarian have been diligently working on expanding and developing local library services and partnering with local organizations, including FCSS, to offer programs to all residents (rural and urban),” Elnora CAO Sharon Wesgate wrote to county council.

“The ‘tech’ sessions for residents have proven to be popular and extremely helpful, movie nights have attracted residents of all ages, and the library is hosting ‘creative corner’ whereby local artists join together to paint or craft.”

Elnora’s library has been housed at 210 Main Street, but a 2023 inspection found that the 1936-constructed building has asbestos and mould. This prompted an immediate closure of the library, as well as the Elnora Youth Centre also there.

Remedial repairs were estimated at $60,000 to $70,000.

Then, village council purchased a 5,800 square foot building at 213 Main Street, which was built in 2009. That cost the village $325,000.

The southern portion of that building is home to a grocery store, with the other portion to be used for the library and potentially municipal offices down the road.

The Elnora library has 144 memberships, 66 (or 46 per cent) of which are County residents.

Red Deer County council heard that it provides operational dollars to seven other area libraries, with administration noting that providing capital dollars in this case may set a precedent.

Council voted unanimously for administration’s recommendation of $25,000, noting it does provide capital dollars to other regional capital projects.

In Elnora alone, the county has provided capital dollars several times over the last decade, including most recently $12,159 for bathroom renovations at the local Pioneer Club in 2023; plus money for the Elnora Museum (2020), an outdoor rink (2018), windows and siding at the library (2013), centennial funding (2013), and community hall renos (2008).

The county is also currently providing the Elnora Public Library with $29,240 from 2023-2027 for operations — divided over that term.

Funding for this project comes from the county’s community services department, which has $100,000 allocated each year for capital projects in other municipalities. Before this approval, the county had allocated just over $25,000 to other projects this fiscal year.

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