Angie Thom, director of library services, breathed a sigh of relief as she flipped over the open sign of the new Library and Cultural Centre for the first time, June 29.
Moments prior to the opening, a small crowd of locals and even a few tourists gathered outside to get a sneak peek at the building鈥檚 interior.
鈥淚鈥檓 an avid reader so I鈥檓 happy to have a place where I can come and get books,鈥� said Collin Paterson, who was first in line. 鈥淎 library is always a nice place to go in a community.鈥�
Paterson was also the first person to jot his name down for a new library card.
鈥淚鈥檓 stunned at how happy the community has been about the opening,鈥� said Thom. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been wonderful to see the amount of people that have come in with big smiles.鈥�
Thom added that during the past week dozens of people have been in to either renew their card or to acquire a new one.
Now that the doors are finally open, Thom said library staff will spend the next few months getting used to their new digs.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still in that new house phase. I often find my hand reaching out for something before I realize that we don鈥檛 keep that there,鈥� said Thom. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of questions and I think it will take a while, but we鈥檒l eventually settle down.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bigger building and that takes some time to adjust to.鈥�
Library staff weren鈥檛 the only ones that had some adjusting to do. The buildings鈥� other three tenants also officially opened last week. The Jasper chapter of the Association Canadienne-Fran莽aise de l鈥橝lberta (ACFA) opened its office on June 29, while the Jasper Artists Guild (JAG) and Habitat for the Arts opened up its doors, July 1.
鈥淲e鈥檙e so thrilled. I鈥檝e been in this building a number of times over the years and for me this is even better than what I was expecting,鈥� said Claude Boocock, a director with JAG, adding that more than 150 people came through the gallery鈥檚 doors on its opening day. 鈥淚t took a lot of volunteers to make this move happen and we couldn鈥檛 be more appreciative.鈥�
For the past five and a half years the library had been located under the bleachers at the activity centre as it anxiously waited for the new building, which is located at 500 Robson Street.
The building was originally slated to open in January 2013, but over the course of the next three and a half years, numerous construction errors and unforeseen issues delayed the project.
As a result the municipality was forced to keep revising the building鈥檚 opening date and conceded the project was at least $1.5 million over budget.
In addition to the library鈥檚 opening, municipal council will begin holding its meetings in the new building on July 19.
About two weeks later on August 4 the municipality will host an open house for locals to attend. The grand opening event is scheduled for September 30 to coincide with Alberta Culture Days, which takes place from September 30 to October 2.
Throughout the summer the library will offer various programs including a children鈥檚 reading club, a teen program and a weekly Monday story time.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been busy, but we鈥檙e happy about that,鈥� said Thom. 鈥淎nd I know that we鈥檒l continue to be busy throughout the coming months.鈥�
Kayla Byrne
[email protected]
