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Ann Carroll, The Gazette www.canada.com/montrealgazette
June 6, 2007
Library board has 20 potential buyers for their library; board needs to move ahead with the sale as soon as possible
At least 20 potential buyers have expressed interest in the now-closed Fraser Hickson Institute in Notre Dame de Grace, library board president John Dinsmore says.
Some proposals submitted to date make the board "cautiously optimistic" that a downsized version of the cash-strapped library will be able to reopen on the site, Dinsmore said.
Among the suggestions: cohabitation with an educational institution, and sharing the space with a residential condo development.
The purchase offer must include a commitment to preserve the outer design of the main building, Dinsmore noted.
The private, non-profit library, at the corner of Kensington and Somerled Aves., closed in March for lack of funds. Staff are now conducting an inventory of the 170,000-item collection, which is not for sale.
Jones Lang LaSalle Real Estate Services, Inc., the firm managing the property sale, has extended the deadline by a week, to June 15, for prospective buyers to submit their documents, Dinsmore said.
The library board will review the proposals and consult the community on the more promising ideas, he said.
The board needs to move ahead with the sale as soon as possible, Dinsmore noted. It costs $5,000 a week just to keep the building in good repair and a skeleton staff on site, he said.
"We don't want to do that indefinitely."
Some library supporters, meanwhile, continue to appeal to the city of
Montreal to increase its level of funding to reopen the library.
With
Montreal contributing $200,000 a year to annual operating costs expected to reach $750,000 next year the library has had to dip into its dwindling capital fund of about $2 million, Dinsmore noted.
"We are looking for a long-term solution to the dilemma of picking away at our capital," he said.
One library advocate has helped organize a library fundraiser Monday at Ye Olde Orchard pub on
Monkland Ave. The pub, which holds regular Quiz nights every second Monday to raise money for the N.D.G. Food Depot, has offered to host a special Quiz night next week to benefit the library.
Dinsmore said he appreciates the effort, but said the board is holding off on its own fundraising pitch until a buyer can be found and a new operating plan developed for the library.
While downsizing might not be a desirable solution, it seems inevitable, Dinsmore said.
"We recognize that as the only course of action as responsable administrators," he said.
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