St. Marys library board commits to fundraising for 14 Church St. N. revitalization

Library board strikes ad-hoc committee to participate in community capital campaign

By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

With plenty to gain from a revitalized 14 Church St. N for library patrons and staff, the St. Marys library board has committed to supporting a community capital campaign that could help raise the $4 million needed to transform the former Mercury Theatre building into a multi-generational community hub.

At the library board’s Oct. 2 meeting, members voted to establish an ad-hoc committee that would act as a liaison between the library board and a capital campaign team comprising members of the community and other stakeholders in this project.

“(The fundraising oversight ad-hoc committee) will probably consist of members who will actually be part of the overall capital campaign committee that is going to plan and approve the fundraising process,” library CEO Sarah Andrews said. “Their role on this ad-hoc committee is to keep the library board aware of what’s happening and to bring to the library board anything that requires the library board to provide input, but it’s not the fundraising committee itself.

“This is sort of the first step, I think, to having a bit of a membership that’s going to then roll over and become part of a larger committee.”

With space for current and enhanced library programming included in the designs for 14 Church St. N approved by council as part of an overall masterplan for the building’s revitalization back in August, the library board, as well as the library’s key fundraising group, Friends of the Library, are key stakeholders in this project.

To help shape a capital campaign to support the project and drum up support from the community, Andrews recommended the ad-hoc committee comprise library board members, Friends of the Library representatives and town liaisons to craft an approach to fundraising for future growth opportunities for the library across the road at 14 Church St. N.

Library board chair Cole Atlin and members Barb Tuer, Colin Coburg, Sylvain Robichaud and Carol Robinson Todd were recommended for the ad-hoc committee, and Andrews said she would serve as staff support, providing information and guidance when needed.

Both of the board’s council representatives, deputy mayor Brogan Aylward and Coun. Fern Pridham, opted not to put their names forward as members of this ad-hoc committee to avoid any kind of perception that St. Marys council is involved in planning or orchestrating the community fundraising effort.

“(The capital campaign team will) get input from staff and this (ad-hoc) committee as to what we envision (a fundraising goal) to be – what does the library need, what do the spaces that we’re going to use primarily across the street … cost,” Andrews said. “There’s a cost per square foot and then we can factor in what equipment we’ll need and what furniture we’ll need, but those will be conversations at the capital campaign tables, I would imagine.

“We’ll be informing them, and they will start to formulate the asks.”

The library board’s input through its ad-hoc committee will be just one piece of the puzzle as other stakeholder groups provide information on their needs and costs for 14 Church St. N. The capital campaign team will host its first official meeting at the St. Marys Public Library on Nov. 27 at 6:30 p.m. All community members interested in shaping the capital fundraising campaign are welcome to attend.