The Hearst Public Library isn’t going anywhere from its current home. Town council voted on Tuesday to purchase the George Street location from the landlord and Administrator Eric Picard hopes to have the sale complete by early 2025.
“It’s accessible, everyone does know where it is, it also creates a lot of foot traffic in the downtown core so there are a lot of positives out of financial decisions to keep it downtown,” he said. “I do think it’s a great decision.”
Picard says despite the cost factor, there are some advantages to buy the building.
“But there’s unused office space in the back of the building that we are already have plans internally for things that we can hopefully do because we always need a bit more office space and storage,” he noted.
During spring budget discussion, town staff had looked at moving the library to the Gilles Gagnon Welcome Centre as one of the options to save money. The Hearst BIA opposed the move because it would have harmed the downtown core.
