e e e e e e e e good evening ladies and gentlemen I'm calling this uh special meeting of the Oak Public Library board to order for Thursday September 5th to 2024 uh thank you for being here everybody uh before we get into the meeting I'd like to read our territorial acknowledgement the Oakville Public Library is situated on the treaty number 14 and treaty number 22 treaty lands and territory of the Miss sagas of the Credit First Nation and the traditional territory of the Hiram wendat and the hoden Shoni Oakville is currently home to many different First Nations Inuit and M peoples regardless of where we come from we are all interconnected to the land that we live on the water that we use and the air that we breathe we are committed to a continuous Learning Journey and allyship we seek to elevate indigenous voices and lived experience to cultivate reconciliation in Oakville um Madame committee clerk do we have any uh regrets today we have no regrets anybody have a declaration of pecuniary interest to declare tonight not seeing me we'll move along uh you'll note in your amend your agenda that we do have uh we were supposed to have minutes to confirm but we don't normally confirm minutes at special meetings so we're going to hold those over um so you can read them three or four times more before we approve them and we'll deal with those at the next regular board meeting uh we have no consent items we have no confidential consent items we have one discussion item tonight and that is item 7.1 and that is the main show to this evening and I will go to Tara to uh fill us in on um what we're going to be talking about tonight yeah we're very excited to have um representatives from Perkinson will The Architects uh for the new Central Library project with us tonight um I'm going to hand it over to them in a minute to take you through a presentation about their philosophy um and end with getting some feedback and some thoughts to you about how we can make this new Central Library the most amazing thing Halton has ever seen um before I do I also want to introduce uh Brent copelan um who is also part of the project uh part of the Town um Brent is instrumental in helping us get this through so we're happy to have him here as well um and I'm then just gonna get to the meat of it and pass it over to parkon um quick question on technical front are you doing a PowerPoint presentation this evening we have a uh yes okay I don't think any of our monitors or some of our monitors are on others are not mine is not while we're while we're getting ready I also want to mention that we have our collaborator uh Lady of smoke from smoke architecture here who uh we who who is who's also going to help us present today and help us design thank you uh so I'm the only one without oh Andrew doesn't have his on either you want oh you can read your okay I can't yeah I guess that's the live broadcast though journey is it possible to get the slide deck up on my screen or is that okay you know what I won't bother I'll just I'll just use the small screen and squint you're gonna miss out on so much oh okay okay well then give me a second to sign in I do I need Zoom I don't think so can you send that to me okay we tried that oh oh oh how did that happen that's how it happened okay you has everyone got the you go ahead I'm the only one without a scream I'll have that oh you don't either well it'll come up when when they do the presentation yeah yeah so when they when they when they call up their when AV the it folks will call it up uh in your Zoom Link in just a second and I'll I'll work on mine while you you start why don't I start with the agenda because that's kind of a visually on kind of simple things there's just um it says agenda and then there's three points and I'll read those so uh we're the Perkinson will team we're going to introduce ourselves and our our at Perkinson will and smoke team we're going to introduce ourselves and our design philosophy share some initial design ideas which were really not um ideas that we've generated since we were awarded the commission but but thoughts that we brought to the interview and that we shared with the selection committee and and we thought it would be fun to share them with you you because it's a way to get the ball rolling and start talking with the potential of the site in the program and um then there's going to be questions in discussion so without further Ado um what we did when we put our team together and this is the second time we've collaborated uh on all with smoke so we thought rather than say I'm from smoke and I'm from perkas will that we kind of uh put together a team which is integrated and really um we kind of dissolve the boundaries between our two practices and talk about the attributes that each of the team members is going to bring to opl and the town of so um those characteristics um were kind of reflected in the roles that we're taking on so I'm Andrew frontini I'm the the project principal principal in charge noted for my kind of curiosity and interest in investigating the potential of sites Andes maybe you go next Bojo gab we can I'm a lady smoke home Community is LAX First Nation uh way up near Sue Lookout um my other home Community is uh alderville First Nation on my dad's side and Winnipeg and Toronto on my mom's side uh really pleased to be ashis to this project which means sort of a almost a ceremonial connotation of Helper and messenger and I have the role of a project manager on this project and so thinking about being prepared and uh and kind of really handson and engaged on the project so it's a an image of of uh me working in the wood shop on a on a project outside of uh outside of the work Michael's one of those guys who measures twice and cuts once right now with us today Sheila brro who's uh with with Bruce Labs our landscape architect and as you can tell she's very caring and she cares for the planet and for all things growing on it and we'll bring a really unique insight into the landscape that we bring into the site when we look at the site today we don't really you know it's just ashalt in a building but there's this enormous potential and we hope we'll show some of that potential as we go through these images as a bit of housekeeping just um um keep in mind you the mic is right there and we are broadcasting to literally tens of thousands or at least 10 yeah and so if that good point because I'm not C you're not catching me right yeah I I we were catching your voice but we weren't catching everybody else's voice so if we could just make sure we're cognizant of the 10 people watching um and we would we would be appreciated great good so um just a bit about us um Perkinson will has a really robust Library design portfolio going back back decades so um in the last really decade we've done 14 uh public libraries five academic libraries and for which we've received over 30 Awards and we've done a lot of work with with the kind of Library community the Ontario Library Association um working with them as committee members um as juries on their building Awards program members of their planning committee for the annual Institute on the library's place and many feasibilities and Master's uh plan studies uh for Library systems so not just libraries but thinking helping people think about their whole system and we speak at many conferences the annual Institute of the library's Place OA which is and ala the American Library Association conference and the designing libraries conference so it's kind of part of a real passion as Amy mentioned that we have and um you know it we can't wait to have the opportunity to design the next Library they don't come up every day so we were really excited to win this uh our philosophy is one of co-creation um not just with our teams and with our partners at smoke but but with you and and the community in Oakville and this picture just shows a a workshop we did for um the wall summerson Community Center in Toronto and really engaging the actual users um through their daytime programming kids in this case to speculate on what um the spaces of a park in Toronto might be attended to a community center our overall um design philosophy is the living design philosophy designing for life and it's really a holistic approach that goes beyond traditional aspects of sustainability but begins to look at uh how Beauty and kind of conceptual Clarity and the craft that goes into making a building tie into the traditional kind of pillars of sustainability that we all think about um and so you see we have this kind of flower which represents um the kind of petals or these are the ingredients of good design for us uh and you can see that community and inclusion resilience health and well-being these things are all tied in along with uh issues around energy use water use um really uh helping natural species and humans uh live well in the spaces we design and um we bring that to really every project and when we found that working with smoke uh on the do Road Library in Toronto we found that there was just this really rich overlap between an indigenous worldview about how we want to care and be stewards of uh of the natural world and the built environment and there's a real Synergy there we kind of use different language to talk about some of the same ideas so this might be a familiar one to some folks the dish with one spoon treaty also called the beaver Bowl um it's the idea that uh uh the land that we share this territory is uh is a dish um that we have a responsibility to keep clean take only what we need and always leave some for others so the dish is always going to be full so here are some initial thoughts on the design again not the literal design but what it might be and this is what we shared with you uh at at the interview so within our team we have uh a group of of urban designers as well and we started to think about the site and how it where it sits within the downtown and who we serving with this new project um so one thing that really jumped out is uh uh the number of children in the area and I think that's already reflected in the existing branch and and we were really thinking about ways to um to to kind of even even bolster bolster that more in the new uh in the new Branch um and then the Immigrant population as well so that's something that we we looked at a lot with the do Road Library and spaces for individual study uh group study and and spaces for Gathering really became an important uh an important aspect of that project and we think that's that's going to be an important thing here as well as we zoomed in a little bit more on the site um we started to learn more about the cultural plan um for the for this area of downtown and the the thing that we were were really excited about was the flexible Street proposal for George Street we think there's a great opportunity at the uh the rear of the site to really tap into that and and kind of draw more pedestrian uh traffic off of Lakeshore and um uh really activate that part of uh part of downtown and then zooming in even further um the connection to 16 Mile Creek is definitely the the thing that really jumped out at us as as something that uh um we really want to um make that connection back to and and right now having that uh Randall Street and and and a kind of a barrier and quite a grade change um ways we've been thinking about doing that is getting up higher on the site getting up on a on a Terrace up on a on a second floor and and connecting it primarily from a visual point of view and then bringing some of that uh Greenery and uh and Landscape onto the building itself and site where we can and then parking also is is another um big factor for the project because there's a a large number of spaces required and not a lot of footprint as well so we were showing an example of our albian library project where um there was an ambition to have a lot of public outdoor Gathering spaces but also parking so the parking was designed um in a flexible way to allow for uh weekend markets and different things to happen um so it's it's a parking lot when it needs to be but but when it's not a parking lot it feels like a nice public space as well so we were trying to think about creative ways to to program the the rear of the site and then of course balancing the uh the need for um Heritage preservation as well as really kind of signifying a new transformation to the uh to the site um being a post office previously um held a lot of a lot of meaning in in the town and and on that street I think honoring that while at the same time uh uh announcing something new on the site is is what we're really kind of looking to to strike a balance between and then I spoke about that a little bit in the um uh in the view of the uh the site plan I think this really kind of illustrates it here just that barrier that's and and trying to uh uh get a vantage point from up above to be able to really connect to it and then uh the things that we've been hearing about the existing Branch um the the reading nooks and the spaces for individual study are really popular um we see that at a lot of libraries and and trying to maximize um those spaces where people feel a bit of ownership of the space and and a nice view out to downtown or or to a naturalized area all those things are really important um outdoor Gathering spaces and then of course um elements in the building that connect people to culture and and and the Heritage uh of the areas is also a really important thing we want to uh integrate so we sort of always like to speculate a bit about you know the storytelling potential um of architecture and landscape and in this context and for these people so you know we thought it's very interesting that you're on the creek um it was a post office now we're going to do a library so we had this kind of question well what connects those things what what's what do they have in common how is a river uh like like a letter and vice versa so um lay down I don't if you want to speak about this particular lovely image of this room of this Greek well that element of water means so many things uh it's where we all come from we all emerge into this world through water and water has a life of its own uh they say um water is life and it always seeks out a life to help nurture it and help it grow so this history of of being by the river is a really important one and so if there's anything we can do to help lower perceptual barriers and bring the experience of the river back into the perception of of uh your Urban everyday life uh we want to do that you know and I think in our in our own bodies everything Travels by water so the idea that people traveled uh from for for time in Memorial by the river and that water is this kind of medium that that transports ideas people Goods creatures life is really critical um and we thought about this actually is not the post office uh that the original post office in Oakville but there was a little structure you know similar in scale and what we chose this picture because everyone is hanging out at the post office the mail didn't come every day it came weekly probably and when it did it was was an event and people came because news was going to be coming from other places so that relationship between knowledge exchange and Gathering you know started to uh impress upon us um that the river would have provided that people gathered at the river people arried by the river but in in in another state in this kind of nation-building idea of mail across the country or across the continents um the the that that system the system of mail was starting to have the same role and of course the library and the in the Advent of of digital information transfer the library comes a really important place um yes there are books there there's all kinds of ways to exchange information and knowledge at the library so the idea of gathering in a place a special place to exchange ideas and information um that that became the common denominator between the library the the river and the post office so how can we tell that story on this site and we think a really critical part of telling that story is connecting the downtown via the post office site back to 60 mile Creek and and we think we can do it um this is a kind of notional drawing where where you know nature is going to help us do that we're going to use um perspectives Advantage points and natural systems to help us make those connections as well as architecture so this was a picture we took G you took this when you toured the first toured the library from the second floor there's a little bit of a roof it's not a roof Terrace but it could be one day and and you can see that you can really get a much better view of everything if you're just one level up so what if we decided to occupy that roof to Green it to make it a garden and to kind of create a visual almost leap over the road visually and and use a natural naturally planted roof and a and a space for gathering at the upper level uh to connect us to that our our kind of um our site and the context and and the and the creek and um we've had really wonderful experiences designing rooftop spaces uh where people do exchange and gather and we designed one with ladia together on the roof at dos library is going to be a really special space this is actually an urban for Farm um at Toronto metropolitan University on the eighth floor of a quite a big building a 28 story Health Sciences and residence building but it's really become over five years years has become this amazing Community point because it's so unique to have a farm in the middle of the city and actually have a farmers market on every Thursday and people people exchanging food as well as information so over the next few slides we're going to take you through some kind of high level Explorations um on some options that we presented during the interview um and these are really just meant to show you what the potential of the site could be and what the potential of the existing building could be um so all of these options take into consideration some of those drivers we talked about earlier so connecting back to the downtown connecting to the creek um program distribution um in the building and how operations happens um and then taking into consideration parking so in this first option uh this one really looks to add to the building um as a rooftop uh addition as well as a sidey yard Edition uh placed at the North uh west side of the site so this creates a bit of a Plaza on the corner there which you know we see um full of rain Gardens and Native spe native plantings um and maybe a ceremonial Gathering space as well um the rooftop addition would be set back from that existing structure um to um to just be respectful of the Heritage aspect of that um but would also still create kind of a beacon um to the downtown uh parking in this scenario is located in the basement of the building and there's an option uh to extend that to beneath uh the plaza if desired um noting that really only about 30 parking spaces fit beneath the building so if we wanted to build out that full uh 57 or whatever is required we'd need to extend um that connection along uh that shared Street on George is going to be really important because it's going to help draw uh people to the creek it's also Al going to allow the library to potentially spill out onto that street and program within the library will help draw users in along that that street uh so here's a section uh showing you know a light Timber structure addition on the roof um with Overlook of the Terrace overlooking that Plaza at grade as well as the creek Beyond um strategically placed openings in the existing floor will help connect spaces and create that visual con connectivity the second option is pretty similar to the first one um except we are limiting parking to beneath the plaza and using that basement floor as programmable Library space um so here the addition again would happen on the roof um and you'd have wonderful views over the Terrace over the plaza and the creek Beyond um you can imagine the image at the lower left there um this undulating Timber structure being a real kind of focal point um or beacon on that corner that you can see from the downtown and again here's a section of that light Timber structure strategically placed openings and Terraces and Views over the plaza and onto the creek so the third option takes the addition um and places it on the North Edge the rear yard of the library and here we're really maximizing the floor space uh the ground floor space so you can imagine that Plaza that we were talking about at grade is really elevated um so you have wonderful views from that one story up that overlooks the creek um again here's the potential of how much parking we want and where we want to place that so if we were taking the basement we would have the rooftop addition if not we would limit that to the rear yard and then the section here shows uh wonderful connections of the Interior spaces and the exterior spaces um Overlook uh onto that elevated kind of garden rooftop garden um and here you get that sense of that real that bridge we're trying to connect the bridge we're trying to make from the building to the creek right from this that earlier image we saw an elevated garden really kind of creates a barrier so you don't see the the road you can see right onto the creek at that point um and then here we'd have strategically placed again openings in the floor plate and potentially down to the basement if that is so if we wanted to program that space so that kind of concludes the this portion of the presentation we're going to move into discussion uh question period and we've put together a series of questions really meant to just spur discussion so we're going to run through them all and then we can go back and uh talk talk about each one individually okay so the first one um is there anything significant about this Project's location that you want to share with us are there any unique aspects of Oakville you'd like to see reflected in the new design how can we balance Innovation with the Heritage character of the existing post office are there any Library Trends or innovation Innovative approaches to library programming or Partnerships that you've seen that you'd like to incorporate in this project what feeling are you hoping that the new building will evoke both inside and out and is there a building that you visited recently that really kind of inspired you are there any land stship or sustainable design features that you're interested in exploring um to use as education or inspiration for the community and then do you anticipate having any designated indigenous spaces and what do you see or hope could be featured in those spaces and then thinking ahead what can we do in this space today that will have a positive impact on our descendant Seven Generations into the future I think that's the last question so why don't we go back to the first question and we can start from there who wants to start members of the board Bill the um from what I understand um basically right at the bottom of uh you know where the river is um basically below where where the the uh post office is now that was um once upon a time it was a a village it was an indigenous Village is is that right that's my understanding anyway and I was thinking you know you're talking about you know um you know features of this the space having to do with indigenous I mean that would be kind of cool to have something related to uh those people that lived there you know long long time ago and I and I'm I'm pretty sure that was that was um you know that's you know where the indigenous people had a a big Village I don't know but I thought that was kind of cool um one thing I I've always thought um about that location and that bridge because I've always wanted when I'm driving on that bridge I always I always get frustrated because I'm driving and I would like to see the valley and you can't see the valley and I was thinking if if um if we're going to have this you know feature overlooking um it would be really great if if if somehow that bridge you know the wall there could be something that you could actually see through that which might help the visual um piece from the building I don't know how if you stand will it be higher than the top of the existing post office it might not that depends on the option we go with yeah but you know we what we found is that from from the from the second floor you you've got a great view of is that right yeah yeah it's really stunning actually and what's what makes it more stunning is when you're at grade you don't see it because of that barrier yeah oh yeah for sure it's a reveal which is kind of is is fun to work with architecture the idea of going up and all of a sudden you know that's revealed yeah I think that would be fantastic because a lot of people you know they just don't you just when you're in downtown Oakville you just don't get a good a good view of of the river or anything down there and that that would be a great feature of the library and I think it would actually bring people in just to see it sell tickets no not right see Rebecca has all the answers anyway thank you um go ahead so the question about the location for me kind three things stand out so one is is the location on George Street because you you showed that picture of town square which is right at the foot of George Street and I think that I find that to be such a Gathering Place for downtown Oakville that's where families come to let their kids and run around on the green space that's where teenagers come to hang out people just take a break and sit and enjoy a coffee on a hot day or an ice cream cone when they're walking so something that can like be visible from that like really close location and draw people out that they may not have thought of I think is a really it's interesting that it's so Central and that it's so close to an already Gathering Place is is a really cool opportunity I think to Bill's point leveraging the creek is so is so interesting too and I think what's so special about 60 M Creek and there's other parts of Oakville where there's walking trails is that some is you know in the fall you can actually see the salmon run go through so that opportunity if you could actually witness that from the library at that time of year would be such an amazing because currently you wouldn't that would be happening unbeknownst to us right at least at that section of the creek where is up River you can see it for example at Upper Middle Road you can walk along and actually see that happening and it's such a cool thing that not many people in this province get to take actually witness U live and then the third thing that I find about the existing Central Library that's so interesting is that it's it's so beautiful like it that's what always compels me is that we have a lot of our existing libraries are part of community centers and they're just really concrete jungles they're part of a parking lot they're close to a busy Street they don't have the beauty whereas what's so great about the I find with our existing Central Library is it's set back there's so many beautiful gardens it's just so gorgeous you just see people taking pictur you just want to be there and you see people out and it just feels like you're in this little Oasis in a city so to have something that has like is maybe set back from traffic you know it doesn't have that that noise has like build into that nature and that those Gardens makes it even more of a special place thanks Meredith um Rebecca oh little button on the side on the right hand side be careful with that that's my chair there you go thank you um I also had three things number one I loved the nod to it being a post office um I have like three family members that are all post posties and they often tell stories about that way that like um posties go from house to house and they really are like the gatherers not just the deliverers of information but the gatherers of information and then share it like from house to house um so I love like the incorporation of that combined with um the indigenous elements that could be there and your nod and acknowledgement of like the elderly population I think in that area um I think that like history and um just respect and um all of those things to both like the actual population that's there and like Bill said you know the indigenous people that lived there before I think all of those things and then you didn't really talk about it but you did maybe it a little bit at the beginning was the nod to like sustainability and the environmental aspects of it just with the respect of the creek and just bringing in like those environmental aspects I think uh we have like M said a lot of other locations that are kind of concrete jungles and so to be able to like have this Garden space and um not a lot of land around it but an acknowledgement of that and I think would be really special thank you uh Ray okay I think I'm on here um just a couple of comments with respect to the the location and and you're you're probably aware of it there are three uh historical buildings that are wrapped around that site and that's one is the radial um station and there's this masonic hall and then there's the old fire hall and they're all three red brick uh buildings um I think it's important if we can have some kind of continuity with respect to th to those uh historical sites uh for the building with all due respect um that building I think uh the post office was built in early 60s if I'm not mistaken 58 58 okay I was around then and I lived downtown um never did like the building no no disrespect but it was a it was a government building and it was it's slab on slab um so the historical or the significance of design is if you look at it it's very boring um an understatement it's an overstatement maybe I don't know but anyways there is a plaque on there um I think it's Hazel ma Matthew Chism um I think we need to to incorporate that in some shape or form I'm not sure but I think if we did some uh more investigation with our uh Heritage staff at the town to find out that property if it was donated by the chisms way back when uh prior to being a post office uh if I'm not mistaken when I was a little child I think there were homes on that that property there were um uh duplexes uh on both sides of the street at one time so I would uh see if you can delve into that in the historical Heritage perspective uh I really I really um look at uh George Street is now technically uh George Street used to run all the way down to Robinson and we closed it off um and um we put in during the Millennium celebrations we put the clock in and we designed that for a people Centric area I'd love to see that move right up the street um we have enough uh entrances and exits on lakes Shore we have um I got to remember all the streets that go down to Lake Shore maybe we can close that off and run it right up uh to the to the library to me that makes sense and then green it up as much as you can um the river itself uh looking at the river in the win in the fall winter there's not much there and if we're going to do it we got our Parks people start planting a lot of vegetation down there in the in those areas because it's um it's water it's a water area uh a lot of swamp um there's not a lot of um what I call good growth but again that's another another time to look at that to look we can put in um new species of of uh plant materials to to expand our visual with respect to the uh the library um I think that's it for now no the question is and help me out here and I I might be wrong or I missed it the existing building is not going to come down you're just going to redo the building so what is the consideration for the uh facade and what you're looking at uh for facade design have you have anything well right now we we have um we have Balera who are our heritage Consultants we are speaking with the town the project does have a Heritage designation but I think there's quite a bit of elasticity in there you know as you knowe I think the it is part of a district which has historical significance it is I think it's it's the fact that it was a post office is interesting culturally that but I don't think anyone in this room looks at that building and says this is really the Apex of federal architecture or modernism or vict you know it's really a bit of an in between era I'm glad we're on the same mindset well it's a pretty functional kind of building you know but I think our approach would be to I think there's real value in keeping you know the structure the investment the embodied carbon all of those good things about not throwing it all out putting into landfill so our goal is to make use of what is a pretty big bright Square building um and adapt the facade in a way that you can still see the kind of trace of History kind of mult I think there's like many stories on the site and people talked about indigenous occupation you know a later occupation um in the Victorian era this kind of federal imposition of you know infrastructure I guess is what this building really is and then a new future so I think if you can read all of those stories when you're at the library that's what the library is about so I think there's value in that um I don't think we're going to be we're going to be talking and continuing to discuss the potential for modifying parts of the exterior um the the two facades which face George and and and church are kind of are the kind of designated facades the back is really a hodge podge it's a shipping receiving yeah and um and I think there's the opportunity to have Expressions that come out the back and up up above and you know kind of careful but uh careful modifications of the facade which allow you to know something new and exciting is going on so I think in the in the best of all worlds it's still there but it's really substantially transformed for the better okay thank you thanks R um rod please um I'd like to wax ecstatic about the rooftop reading Garden or rooftop Garden I think everybody here probably loves it I think you'll have a fantastic view of a Vista of the Ravine I would Advocate putting in a separate entrance to it from the street level so that the library could perhaps rent out that space after hours for events and programs and stuff like that I know some libraries elsewhere do that it's an idea however I do have a butt coming in here and I I heard Bill's great idea about the glass side to the uh the road there so you could see down better could you go back to one slide any slide at all a cutaway view any of the options one two or three I'm just not seeing how somebody could see the creek River the water with what I saw in those in those images um you you can we have this photo yeah and well there you can see oh I don't so so this is a photo taken from inside the building yeah on the second floor yeah looking out so if we were to move forward move forward you'd be over you'd be looking over yeah so any ground floor addition with a roof Garden on top like this is what you would see well that's if you're in the building but if you go out on the roof you'd be looking over the roof you're going to be up high looking down you can't show me one of the slides with the cutaway view uh options three two or one the one with the highest one if you like um you have little figures okay yeah that was a good one okay so your mic Rod you shut your mic off oh sorry about that the the like where it says addition and you've got perhaps a person at the highest view uh just above the Terrace and and they're looking and I'm seeing water unfortunately that is uh where these two vehicles are and then you're right down here um and I'm see if I draw a direct line between that one person looking and I I'm seeing them that view hitting uh the burm the Ravine side well couple of things one okay this this is not a you know hydrologically precise drawing Waters there as a sign but the other thing too is that the river and it and you were speaking Bill about the uh settlement at this location are probably very probable because it's this bow in the river so you can see everything coming from both sides which is always a great strategic point so the river comes in really close right to that retaining wall that flood wall but then it snakes out and to the left and right you know you your your Vantage Point the river is moving further away from the building so so maybe right there you're seeing trees but you see you see the creek to the left and right as it pulls away from the embankment okay no I I just wanted to check on that because uh that's a concern I had yeah I think uh some perspectival studies would be in order to make sure that we're having the effect that we intend yeah thanks Rod further uh go ahead Avis just to expand on what all of my uh board members have um fellow board members have touched on but I I do also agree that the history of Oakville um absolutely needs to be reflected in this building and and perhaps it's the various waves of settlement from indigenous through to kind of white settlers in all of the kind of connections to the water and including the Underground Railroad as I understand it Oakville was a port of entry and that and so that connection to the water for all those various groups that have made Oakville what it is today um and I do also agree on the meeting spaces being very important and I'm and you know I'm definitely not as knowledgeable about indigenous ways as I should be but are there ways that we can make those meeting spaces connect to indigenous traditions and just lastly on um you can see from the turtle on my shirt I'm very nature oriented and I'm actually on the the board of Oakville green uh which is a small Environmental Group in Oakville and so I really do also promote the use of native plants in whatever plantings are done thank you thanks AIS further comments okay I get a chance oh R can I have can I have a shot and then I'll come to you no I'm no Chairman's prerogative s I'm taking it you're taking it well you're your second High speaker I challenged the chair just kidding just kidding we'll take it outside um okay a couple things first of all um I just want to Echo actually now I feel like taking it back I was about to Echo something race but now I'm just going to disagree with them um Ray mentioned the radial Railway which is a couple doors away so uh you're probably aware that um there was a significant Transportation method that ran along um Randall I think I the name just escaped me so there's this radial Railway that ran from G through Hamilton then through Oakville Burlington Oakville and right through Toronto and it was a significant obviously Transportation piece and the the the original Oakville station's still there on the corner um I I would love to see that somehow represented in the building because I think it's a even though that radio station is there it's not it's not that's not its use it doesn't really have a significant historical function it' be great to represent that somehow in the library because it connects with if you think about you think about the the what the creek uh does it you transports people Goods Etc up and down but the railway did the same thing and it was a it was a big part of you know the oakville's um Economic Development it was a big part of the the cultural development of that area so I think that's a really important point to make sure somehow that's Incorporated in the building as well the other thing in this is this is my North Oakville Centric hat hat going on for a sec a second this is Central oakville's Library it's not South oakville's Library sorry it's not Central oakville's it's the Central Library it's not South oakville's Library it's not the W 3 W two w one Library it's it's all of oakville's Library so I would like to I I I would like to see that we take advantage of the fact that it is on the 16 and the 16 was the was the interface the one of the historical carriers between what is what was Trafalger and in Oakville I mean goods were transferred along the creek um there was significant trade along there during indigenous times so I think it'd be really cool to have a representation not just of Oakville as we know it today but but Oakville as we knew it then and troger as we knew it then and and have this as the first edifice in downtown or in in Oakville proper that actually respects and represents what Oakville was and how it came together um and I think that at a creek it's ideal like it's it's a perfect place to to have that representation to to respect not just the history of of the original town of Oakville but to represent what what Oakville uh the components that made up Oakville over time so those are two pieces I'd love to see represented um the uh I think it was probably Ray I don't know who it was that made this comment about adapting the bridge to be able to see better through it I'm wondering if that could be somehow scoped into this project so that there is opportunities to whether it be through some sort of uh architectural glass or um some sort of structure so you could actually get visual uh views through it so it's not just on the third floor on the on the in the in the G uh um Garden area that you can see through but you could see through it through all levels I'm not sure if that would be within the scope and I have an overall question so are we is the commission on this ex uh tied down to absolutely no possibilities of additional height for the structure building onto it or are we are we capped at two floors plus this this this this third floor uh Garden no structure there there's no particular I mean Budget and of course the operational um needs and uh limitations of the library how many floors can they staff can they afford to staff within their operating budget that's always we hear that a lot designing libraries they don't like to have to hire someone new to be on every floor so that's that can be a challenge U but there isn't anything that says we can't do it we're currently having an investigation of the structure done to see see what it can support but it's likely we're going to have to reinforce the second floor anyway because it would would have been designed for light office use not for bookshelves so we're anticipating some reinforcement and at which point there's nothing really limiting um that vertical expansion um and you know several of our options featured that um cost and operating uh the limitations in operating staff will be the two things that might keep us lower so just just hear me out on this and don't think I'm totally crazy but the the I do understand those limitations particularly this board really understands those limitations right now because we're opening a brand new library and we don't actually have enough money to properly fund it at this point so I totally get that um but my thinking is first of all this is I was on Council and we spent $ 11 million buying this building we had Grand ideas of what this property or what this property was going to entail and they included like parking and some sort of commercial interface I I just feel that we're kind of missing the boat by leaving this at two floors um on such valuable property um uh from a financial point of view but also valuable property from an OP like a views point of view we're trying to we're trying to scrape opportunities to see the creek if you put a third or fourth story on there you're gonna have a beautiful Vista um and prevent provide opportunities for either Library expansion or maybe maybe some other Municipal functionality an art gallery or you know the history of rism or something like that that that that could that could yeah that that could that could somehow you know either temporarily be housed there for future expansion I mean Oakville is growing and we know what the bpes are showing what Oakville is going to become the library the need for the library is going to expand over time so instead of you know shoehorning us into a two story what is effectively a a you know a smallish main library if we had that opportunity to have that expansion space in the future I I think it' be a great investment now because it' be a lot more expensive to do it later on y Ray I'm sorry now I'll come to you I'm going to agree agree with you on this one Jeff um as you know um with the downtown with our cultural Hub um um strategies coming up and so forth it makes sense not you know I'm having the libraries is very important but there's opportunities that uh with other um servic that can be provided uh like our museums uh exhibits um our Oakville galleries exhibits um you know I really believe we we need to uh we need um paintings artwork uh displays and so forth just it just gives our our Museum and our uh Heritage people opportunities to to uh move out of out of kkas um and and move into other areas of the town so people can can explore and uh and see the other artifacts that we have within the town and the history of the town so um I agree with Jeff uh I let's open up the our scope a little bit uh and I think that can be uh integrated within the library programs and I'll one up you here we go and floor most of the library staff have heard me fourth floor fifth floor sixth floor 40 floor floor you get a floor you get a floor this is like Oprah um I I I and this Library staff all heard me talk about this for years and that is the need for uh smaller scale performance space in town so if we're talking about arts and we're talking about libraries I mean the natural connection if you think about some of the great libraries in Canada they generally have programmable perform in art spaces Gathering spaces that are uh not just like casual spaces where you you know throw cushions on the ground or an Amphitheater in the back here but like an actual performing art stage U London Library has one Oakville sorry uh Windsor Public Library has one in the basement I mean number of libraries have these Burnham Thorp branch of Miss Saga has a really nice Performing Art Space so if you were to go one floor up so sure you'd have that issue around Staffing if it was three program floors but if a chunk of the main floor were to be dedicated to a Performing Art Space and then move move the stuff up um you know the other programming and and and offset it in other areas I think it'd be a very useful thing so whether it's an art gallery performing art spaces um maybe I'm competing against myself but even a you know a small theater that could exist Downtown Cinema that that could you know provide art films and that sort of thing in the community I think these are all really great opportunities that if we don't design the the men now they will never happen in the future I'm sorry I've lost track so uh who had their hand up first first I'm going Meredith did you okay and then I'll okay and then I'm going to go to Andrew after Meredith because he hasn't spoken yet just on your point of the Performing artart space currently at the Central Library there's an auditorium so I was just maybe there's a question for the staff like is was the auditorium at Central well used and is that sort of one of the requirements in the design to have a Auditorium as part of this space yeah so one of the things we have requested is an auditorium event space um because the auditori is extremely well used in central um and for those of you who have been in there it's a very unfortunate space at the moment um and it is well used so imagine if we had a beautiful space what we could do with that so that's definitely been one of the requirements that that we've put forward thank you uh Andrew your first time speaker thanks um wonderful presentation first off and I I know we've got a little bit away from the initial question but just coming back to it is there anything significant this Project's location great Vice chair there you um I love the idea of connecting people to um to both George Street and also to to Randall and sort of to the broader um uh River Valley there Creek Valley sorry um it occurs to me this is actually almost perfectly situated at the um the outermost portion of the bow in the river my back on so it's sort of um with the ideas that I'm hearing I love the performance Performing Arts uh idea as well and connecting people to the river just to bring more traffic up into that area I think is really crucial um it really opens up Randall Street which is a little bit drab right now it's sort of you know the backs of some buildings but this being centrally Co located uh at that point of the river sort of in the midpoint of the bridge and up from George Street I think it's a wonderful opportunity for you know all the reasons that have been described to make that a gathering place for people so I'm strongly in favor of that um additionally I want to understand better the requirements for parking um right now at the Central Library it's a municipal parking lot there are many many Municipal parking lots and spaces around the downtown core um so what are the the requirements or anticipated needs with parking nobody nobody wants to answer this question um so part of the the project from the beginning was uh an ask for 57 spaces M will be Municipal spes although I think some of them were to serve the library so the total I think it was 30 some odd spaces I'm right Brent that's existing and then there was a some designated that would serve the library as well so they were trying to that the town's trying to maintain the current stock of parking within the area and not deplete it by by uh this new addition out the back so it's kind of a balance between uh what we can fit on the surface a little bit and and mostly underground to try to uh maximize what we can put on the site okay so that existing parking lot looks like it holds maybe 16 20 spaces right now and there's also a Sor there's a lot adjacent as well that's that's part of the uh the kind of Amalgamated site and it has about uh eight or 10 as well okay there so in any case this is going to require some kind of excavation we think so okay it just that obviously adds a lot of cost in complexity to the project so that's why I'm trying to to drill down on the reasons for that um so the just for clar then the spaces for the library specifically are those in debated to be free to the public no it will be a municipal parking lot okay so sorry what was the paid parking it's all paid parking so there there's the basic Municipal requirement then the additional because of the library facility not there's a requirement for the building and then there's what the town would like okay okay is there any anticipated parking included for uh for staff members that is to be discussed okay okay um all right thanks Rebecca you're up next that's actually a good tie because I just wanted to clarify offices will be in this Branch as well right like your offices yeah the existing Administration will move into the new building we are looking at exactly what that looks like um but the Departments that are currently in Central will be moving over because I think that's another great reason to think about adding more floors right so there's more Library space and then you also have have your space yeah the existing um space of of the building is 43,000 square feet um and I think we're looking at approximately 47 um on the new site thanks thanks Meredith or sorry Rebecca who do anybody else want to get on this round Bill we have more questions to answer so keep that in mind sorry okay just one uh uh that parking thing originally um I was I was on the cultural Hub you know committee at the beginning um the first go round and there was a um there was a lot of discussion about underground parking and all over the place downtown um because there was some thought that they would actually sell the parking lot behind all those buildings on the North uh side of uh Lakes Shore and there'd be this massive underground parking uh Place uh sort of under the roads and everything and it was quite significant and I was just thinking you know perhaps I don't know what the plans are now for that but um you know that's that certainly could uh could uh you know house a lot of the the parking for the library since it since it would be right there from what I understand so anyway R just to add to that uh that comment from from Bill uh any developments are happening in our growth areas uh with if it's office space retail or wholesale the requirements they have to go underground parking uh there's no more surface parking land values are so high they got to go underground and we're dealing with that now on Cur Street uh with development and you're going underground folks so there we go a bit of historical context I me when we bought that building um it was bought in part to help create more parking downtown so there was a concept where it would be some sort of commercial space on the main flooor maybe second floor and then above that parking or below I mean it was it was very it was very hypothetical but it was one of the justifications that that Council made or used to purchase and landbank effectively a very expensive property which was when you look at it today it was a really good investment I mean that's worth a lot more than $1 million today but that was that was always part of the plan so um I mean the library being in there was not part of the original plan that wasn't that wasn't why we aced property just just a bit of historical and I just want to I want to I want to just basically give one more uh thumbs up to something that Ray said this is getting silly um and yeah I know um I'm also not and I don't really understand how this building is um designated to be honest with you it is a it is a nondescript uh period Dominion building created for you know Public Service offices I love post offices like I we and we have a a really great first post office already preserved um in Lakeside Park is it yeah um and uh you know I I guess you know that that is a piece of of something has to be considered here but I just think we could do so much better than than that rather boring structure I'm gonna get a lot of bad mail about this but I I just I feel very like if we're going to create a really beautiful Spa like I came back from Halifax recently and I me I was just joking with you about this at the at at the trough back there um I I came back from Halifax recently and and I I can't see libraries anymore without seeing that one in my mind and how beautiful it was and what a tremendous asset asset it was for the community and then when I think about that I juxtaposing as walking up to you know this this you know now I'm sure you'll make it look great but to the but the architecture of those buildings was not award-winning to to say the least I mean if it was a 1920s Dominion building maybe it'd be better because it'd be like garils and Scrolls and things like that but this was big basically this was pretty functional pretty functional yeah yeah yeah very very very very pedestrian um uh Rebecca did you have a comment before we go to the next question sorry and was just to go back to the parking and the underground parking and just because of all the and I'm sure again this will be very structurally sound but near water and knowing all the water damage that happened at the current location at Central is it a concern to build underground parking and is that maybe one of the concerns that came up when talking about underground before yeah I don't well there there is a there is a required setback like a top of Bank line that we have to stay outside of um but really we're going to have to start to look into studies and inum investigation into the site to see what uh what the conditions are below grade before we would really know but it's one of those things until you start to dig you don't really know what what you're going to find so the water damage was related to the HVAC system wasn't it yeah it wasn't it wasn't really to the bank yeah well if it's any reassurance the existing basement of the post office is phone dry oh yeah yeah it's so I don't think there's a water issue per se as you get look closer to the creek definitely but that's quite a high embankment though I mean I think but yeah we'll be doing some testing some B holes are coming we thought it'd be good to change like go inside you know and and ask a different question just for fun just to because I think there's so many we're getting such good feedback so much there a lot of Rich ideas and I'd hate to miss out on some of these other questions so are we is it okay if we change questions yeah no I was I was ready to go yeah so the next question is on the screen we skipped a couple of questions actually because I felt kind of touched I felt we touched on a lot of of kind of Oakville Urban historical issues related to the site so the next one's really about particular Trends or Innovative appro approaches to library programming um Partnerships and Partnerships yeah and we touched a bit on this ideas of performance art but you know let's let's you went to Halifax that's that's got some really rich programming um Halifax in London there's a number of Great Library spaces that uh could be we could really get some great ideas from okay question who wants to start with this one Meredith sorry Rebecca I think uh tying in a lot of those like environmental elements that you already talked about like into the library itself will be really awesome um another library that library that I love right now is one in Kitchener um and I need to find out exactly what I loved about it because I just saw it but I cannot remember but I will get back to you road trip to kitner yeah okay Meredith you're up next for me what really stands out again I love the existing Central art I have so many great memor and about specifically when my kids were young like just having this Standalone children's floor that it's not like a corner of a library it's a really ample space it was lots of Hands-On stuff that kids could explore and so when I think of like design elements or Partnerships really like having that focus on like the children's area in an area where parents can bring their young kids to just like let them- explore is honestly it's such a godsend to so many parents that just need a place to take their kids for free thank you further Michael isn't that your daughter in this picture here it is this is the make really impressive maker space we did at Georgina recently opening day nice well since nobody else is volunteering I'll give you one um and that is uh um something I saw in a few libraries uh London and Halifax in particular and a few other places as well and that is a cafe of some form um you encouraging that that relaxed atmosphere and study facilities so like some sort of Cafe with baked goods and all that sort of goodness maybe not a Starbucks something that doesn't require a second mortgage to buy Rod you're up you mik ride mik no there you go now you're on oh now you're off now you're on I'm on again you're on again on again off again just look for the red light on the microphone itself all right okay um one Innovative approach that a lot of libraries are doing newer ones that have been built more recently and I think an example is in Phil's Churchill branch is uh the the shelves are no longer fixed whatsoever they on Wheels so whenever the library holds an event or a program or perhaps they're holding an event in program it turns out there's a much higher demand than they anticipated um they can basically trundle all that off to one side and hold a an event or a program it's a great way to combine the the old which is the books but it's still in demand but when necessary they can be moved aside easily and I think it would be a good thing I'm sure you've already thought of this but it would be a good idea to put it in on any of the floors that have collections of books yeah that that's become we do that we we're seeing that more and more in a lot of libraries are at least a portion of the collection will be on Wheels great yeah okay great Rebecca go ahead I had to consult my notes is this K yep it's Kitchener um so this was um a new location that they have will be Net Zero carbon neutral energy efficient building and the first of its kind in that region um and it's specifically around the windows and so it has a certain kind of frit in the glass and helps birds and other Wildlife avoid collisions with the with the glass and I think just again to add to that environmental energy sustainability aspect it would be cool abely this will also be a n zero building so we'll be looking at a number of strategies including those yeah thank you any more uh lead silver I lead silver is required and I think it's the town strategy is a net zero ready if I'm getting that right it's not full certification on Net Zero but but looking at strategies within that framework that makes sense on a site by site basis that's what happened at the the fire hall most recently kind of model further feedback on this question without seeing I think we talked about some of this actually in that in that longer die tribe before so we may we may have actually gone past this one too oh nice you can't see what feeling are you hoping that the new building will evoke both inside and outside is there a building you visited recently that inspires you Avis that counts sort of so it's not a library but um my previous employer was the glob and mail and when we moved U to the current location there was it was very very clean simple design but it really spoke to the heritage of the globe and there were things that to me stood out for example um the in the Publishers office it was all glass and and etched into that glass where the all of the Publishers names their signatures and so it was very striking uh there was a wall in our kind of uh eating space that because of the location of the globe um it was like the the port of Toronto basically so it had um I think it was just like a vinyl overlay but it looked like a stencil that was maybe 30 ft long of uh an old map of the port of Toronto and so there was a connection to where we were located we had a wall um again it took a lot of the archival photos like that might have been front pages from historical events and they were those photos were I think also like vinyl but they instead of just like a a photograph that was framed on the wall small sizes these were quite large so I'm going to say like eight feet high by four and they went down an entire hallway so it was it was things that were like big sporting events or the old the 1920s building of the globe thing you know was a variety of things and people were involved in picking those photos so there was some engagement factor in that and then and then we had some very traditional things like just black big cases that had old typewriters and things that spoke to what the globe was again the history of the globe but but um so those bringing in those kind of I don't know different types of textures and art and visuals I I think could work in in a space in in speaking to the history of Oakville thank you uh Rebecca oh sorry let's go to SSO and then I'll come to Rebecca so so from a an inspiration perspective I think of what inspires me is open bright spaces and I wonder if the existing building is going to constrain you from achieving that right so when you get into a place where um there's fewer walls can see everything Windows all over the place there's sunlight no matter which way you come and we kind of see that in new design of the 16 mile uh library for example and and some other buildings in addition um I'll give you an example of an airport right so where you go to an airport people all over the place and encounter in in movement but uh Vancouver was able to do something completely different with their airport by bringing nature elements into the design of the like even water and and sculptures and that's right yeah some some someone that is corny perhaps but uh but I think if you bring outside elements wood made elements and and water because it's there into the building and connect it with the outside I think it might be inspirational one last thing is um the addition architecturally the addition on top of the building and the one on the side is probably the focal point as you see the building from the outside right and it's beautiful functional I think is going to be very desirable but um in the colder months is there is there anything we can do to use that that those spaces from November to April or I don't know but it's a question more so than spaces yeah yeah yeah good good question really I mean we can begin to answer it but I I think it's you know how do you program it you know people do certain things in the winter um the lady and Michael and I are we're still working on this library but it'll have a ceremonial fire so you know things that draw you to uh to gather outside even when it's not wonderfully warm but there is there a way to engineer something that heats up uh you know sections of it so that it can be used I don't know it's well we're again we're trying to make a very energy efficient building we'll be thinking do we do we want to heat the ex sign but space can convert maybe through solar energy yeah there's some passive strategies to mitigate the outdoor environments and of course it depends what you're looking for out of the outdoor environments like what types of activities so more active ones you'll generate more heat and feel more comfortable sitting down ones maybe move inside so we could think about maybe uh seasonality that involves a lot more activity uh on the outside areas and then maybe be like um shielding wind mimat Yeah microclimates by by shielding wind creating dark surfaces that when the Sun hits them they warm up things like that um who's next Rebecca you're up next again oh and Andrew sorry Andrew I this is more of like a comment but I love like that none of our discussions really have focused on anything around like technology so much when we talk about like a lot of our conversations talk about how to add in more technology and I just think all the talk about like the history of the building and Legacies and like the history around it I think it would be so cool to create like quiet spaces or like spaces where like people hear um like just the sounds of nature and um whatever that is maybe in the winter it's the sound of fireplaces and fire and and maybe in the summer it's sounds of water and I think people would love to go to I used to love to go to the library cuz it was quiet right and I think a lot of people still do um and so I love the idea of like just creating those kind of atmospheres where I mean you can't completely take away technology but like calling them because this whole question came up because you asked about places and so I was on the GO train today and there's that sign that says this is a quiet place like quiet space and so I just think of the library and I think of a quiet place so thank you Andrew yeah I'm going to segue a little bit from what Rebecca said um I was thinking about technology and you know anticipating um this is probably going to exist for decades maybe 50 60 years or longer right um when Central was built we weren't marking around with these little things and I think if you think about those experiences when we enter a space now uh we're very Mission focused uh largely we've got our phones in our hand we've got an objective to get to somewhere and I think walking into a space and having the the feeling the experience of possibility ahead of you is really important um last year I visited a a branch in downtown Ottawa where and you know again the the the architecture is probably you know 60s or 70s or something but from the inside there were there were staircases that were that were open and you could see all three levels from the central atrium of the library I think Tera is familiar with this location and it was just wonderful to walk in and see I could go there I could go there and have that that sense of of Discovery and I think um you know I I don't know if we're all going to have chips in our brains in 20 years or what but we're going to be perhaps even more laser focused on our our tasks and to be able to to get that feeling that I can go beyond my current Mission or objective and explore discover I think is really key that's a great ref yes like the Toronto Reference Library as well yeah yeah you can see the possibility are the only are you the only one person here that doesn't have a chip in your brain did you miss out on the distribution terara can you range um I have a comment so you've heard me and everybody around here knows that when I get I'm like a dog on a bone when it comes to the things I like and so I really like Halifax and I just want to tell you why I like Halifax um one of the things that's most striking when you walk I don't know if any youve been there yet I think that there's a planned trip at some point in the near future but one of the most striking things when you walk in this building is the light like it is so bright and and Airy and open and um I can't even really describe what a wonderful feeling it is to walk into this building I I've been in the post house building several times and I can't even imagine having that level of Joy walking in that building now I know you guys will do fantastic I know I know I know but I'm just I just like I'm using the visualization like I just don't see I don't that building doesn't evoke joy to me or learning um anyway the uh so that's the main thing when you walk in you've got um somebody kitchen or who whichever library was but oh Ottawa has the open the open Atrium you can see all the floors that's Halifax too so you can see all the way up I think the fourth the fourth to the fourth floors I think the fifth floor you can't see I can't remember entirely but um it's just open and it's bright and you can see people Milling about and it's just such a welcoming environment um the second thing is again about Halifax I really liked is that they had uh they had a rooftop environment which was a combined interior and exterior space so to the point that was made about can you have an all- weather kind of exterior you know uh uh rooftop space they have it it's like I guess it's a half a floor on the fifth floor where there's a there's a little uh there's a second Cafe they don't just have one Cafe they have two uh they have a second Cafe on the Roof then they have uh uh they have some other program space but they and some quiet spaces but they also have a door that goes out into the patio so in the warmer weather you can go in the patio and enjoy it and otherwise you can just observe it from behind glass where it's warm and comfortable and you can have your latte or your bun or whatever it is that you have from the cafe so I really liked that as well it was a it was the combination of both that exterior space and the interior space for typical Canadian Living right we don't have the ability to be like Florida or California where we can be outside all the time so this really adapts that that feature to um you know our natural our environment here so those are the things that really inspired me about about um uh Halifax now turning turning uh to uh London is a different experience because it is it was a converted building sort of like we're working on it was an old I think it was neon's yeah it was NE yeah um so it's it is very it's not as bright and Airy and cheerful but what inspired me there was that all all of the different and very unique features that this place had it had the The Garage Band program and it had the little Performing Arts Theater and it had a really nice cafe it had so many it it almost felt like I mean it was a shopping center it still felt a bit like a shopping center felt very familiar in the sense that when you went in there you kind of felt like you were maybe in an eans but it's eans for books right and it just had that it had that really cool vibe to it that it was like you were in a a shopping mall for for resources and it was it was a it was a kind of a different vibe but an interesting Vibe but Halifax to me is now the goal stand I gotta go somewhere else now so I can stop talking about Halifax but uh Calgary I understand is probably my next trip I need to go out and see Calgary because that's the one I hear is really spectacular as well and Los Angeles is what I'd like to go to I heard Los Angeles is pretty SE stunning and I've got a trip coming up there soon so maybe I'll make a a side trip to the Los Angeles library anyway those are my thoughts any did that invoke any more R you want to uh congratulate me on any more brilliant ideas thank you so why don't we move on to the next question sure we've talked about this a bit it says are there any land stewardship sustainable design features that we're interested in that could educate and Inspire the community Andrew I know there's been quite a lot of talk talk about sustainability already um I'll just reinforce the idea that this structure this this place should last for for decades to come and um it definitely needs to be uh weatherproof um you know if there if there are parking uh parking features that involve the surface I'd love to see permeable uh parking surfaces as as an example um The Greenery on the outside anything that connects people you know as you already pointed out kind of crossing over the bridge and into the river valley and and even mentally right not necessarily uh literally although we could I guess put it a zip line if it came to it zipline write that down um but also uh you know I think as well as if we can make it um make it fun and interactive from that standpoint as well as so things that that draw in you know children and curiosity and and you know whether it's just random ideas a periscope a climbing wall things that kind of make people gravitate to that space and interact and engage um and I recognize those aren't necessarily sustainable on the face of it but when we're doing so much to plan for this to be a green space lead certified Etc um I think it's important to get people to draw their attention off of the street and look and and want to interact with the space and yes weatherproof we can't have any more water problems no more water problems we'll put it up on stilts further ideas on the uh environmental stewardship piece you want to move on you got your finger on the button so you anticipating the next question yeah quickly y telling you the other part too is um are you aware that we all talk about the Central Library on Navy Street but you aware where the the original library in downtown Oakville is you know where that is okay I think you need I think you need to consider uh the um the architectural design I love this building that's still there it's it's almost at the bottom of George it is uh where Tommy Bahama Tom Tommy Bahama yeah store is so that was where our library was I used to go there as a kid and uh and we had the children's Library downstairs and the adult library was upstairs and it has some nice design features so just for consideration to review um in your inuring the process thanks what a cool connection though right down George Street I never thought of that's really cool I like the connect just keep moving up and down George yeah exactly yeah any further I mean I'm assuming it's there going to be a solar element included in this yet likely okay could be geothermal we're going to be exploring all the options okay Andrew uh this might be you know another level but uh speaking of solar Etc is there would there be capacity for Ev car charging absolutely that'll be required for the lead certification yeah perfect thanks um Rod um I don't take Oakville Transit as much as I should but when I have it seems to me is there a bus route that goes right by where the this Library would be or do they go along Lake Shore and then over to Rebecca Street or along uh I don't know that they go right by the there's a terminal kitty corner to this library branch the downtown terminals there one goes down Randall all right okay but there's a Terminus there's a Terminus kitty corner to this uh is there not Ray oh is it gone I don't think long how long I've been on a bus but I know there stops a long R yeah all right well I guess my point was simply that we need to make sure there is a bus stop right close to this library and work with the town or whoever ever we need to make sure that happens because you don't want everybody coming by car you actually do want people coming by transit including all those people who who might be moving into that one area of Oakville by Trafalga and the QE or the 403 that don't have many services if it's built as planned because this will be their local library more open up for the kids too in town particular we in town where we have free transit for children so and seniors anything further on the environmental stewardship piece sustainability piece not seeing anything okay do you anticipate having any designated indigenous spes the answer is yes speakit about the consultation to do all right so I hear the uh library now has a representative we're going to start liasing uh and uh and that's uh really exciting we have a an engagement plan um we're going to be speaking to uh Community leaders and Partnerships that the library holds with uh local indigenous entities uh so we're really um really excited to start asking those questions because every single time I listen to uh indigenous folks I learned something amazing and new and so um some of the ideas that we you've heard from past projects past um experiences we'll bring that through as well uh I guess do Road would be an example of that um some of them inspired the overall approach to the building as a whole as well it wasn't sort of just one spot uh the narrative in that library was it involved a connection to Sky um bringing that access down to feel that connection to Earth and uh integrating the landscaped areas as you've been mentioning with a feeling of continuity inside and outside uh especially at that rooftop garden which you also mentioned um they had this uh kind of I don't know well a little bit sad rooftop garden but it was so well used they were out there all the time you could tell there were you know equipment and toys and so we thought oh that's going to be really uh really great for them to have this space that has a more plant life more seeding areas and the possibility of a sacred fire which um is amazing in uh Toronto has recognized that these ceremonial firers they they haven't been allowed in urban spaces before so now the the recognition is there and they're starting to be become more possible so that's going to be tremendous um not having to go for a fire permit every single time you need a you know to do a ceremony and it connects to a roundhouse space right beside there so that you can fluidly come inside outside and then there's a a space to have a feast um a community kitchen that can double as a learning kitchen if you have nutritional programming and so the whole little complex is really going to flow uh to open up the door to all kinds of different activities um indigenous peoples often do outdoor activities indoor uh sitting in a circle often times um and then sharing a meal afterwards food is really part of it and so so those types of activities if you open a space like that it can make a bunch of things possible so I don't know if you've heard of anything that you'd like to particularly focus on uh we'd love to hear it from you and we're going to be hearing it from uh indigenous representatives from your community as well can you describe what we're seeing on this Slide the representation here which I think represent some form of indigenous feature can you describe what that is a little bit that's just exactly what I was talking about so that sacred fire uh Circle so that's uh surrounded by as you were saying indigenous plantings so all the native plantings native species that help pollinators and make us feel at home and uh just in the background there you can see the edge of that roundhouse so this roundhouse element is uh it lends itself to the types of Ceremonies and groupings that we often do uh you can even do things like make ribbon skirts in there um the whole facade was actually inspired by uh star blanket which is a thing that uh that do Road uh currently does is a star blanket program and then just inside there and you can see through the glass that's the Community Kitchen where there's little kitchenet you can do either nut nutritional programming or just share a meal um with your community members so one of the wonderful things about having all the different uh diversity of cultures we have here is everybody has brought wonderful food and so um I I love to think that maybe that's where all sorts of cultures can come to share uh knowledge regarding food and then having the outdoor area some of those more uh aromatic methods of cooking Could Happen out there too I mean just important add that that's on the roof the that's the third floor of this building so it's a tiny little site with no possibility for much green space and really to go on the roof was the idea and and I think you know it's well it's not built yet but we're hoping that you know that that that'll be a real magnet that'll draw people up and they'll find this natural space up above the street and again there's a connection visually back to the Ravine uh substantial Ravine Parkland so similar ideas and and we're hoping to see that become a real hub for the whole community and I think so awesome Rebecca I just wanted to say I'm like times a thousand what you're saying about like having you know that the cooking area and and you know that Gathering Spot very much than looking at the river which feeds the community like I'm times a thousand to all of that yeah just I want to add a thing that's really interesting programmatically is this is a partnership where Toronto Community it's a hub it's a Toronto Community Hub that's partnering with the library in this building so the library is not Staffing this whole Community Kitchen there's another entity up there that provides you know a variety of counseling services and meeting space and and it kind of I think it'll be a really interesting model where where the library will use the roof and and roundhouse everyone uses that but that the Staffing of that level this s of General passive supervision and presence of people is maintained by by a partner you know so so because the library didn't want to have people up on the third floor either so uh you know an interesting story about Partnerships and how they unlock potential we have to discover why Librarians don't like third floors um are you sorry I just and I just wanted to add to that cuz I think it's the main branch in Miss Saga the Hazel mallan uh one that also offers cooking classes right out of their but and that would be like kind of yeah they have a fairly large Community Kitchen in there aw is that also a partnership sorry sure yeah because I know like sorry Bill um I know in some of our other branches we're very interested in terms of Partnerships with partnering with Community Partners that help you know with the food bank and you know offering food um so that would be like a nice extension of things that we're already doing in some of our other branches before we go to build do you know are those are those kitchens or Community Kitchens are they well utilized I can I can speak to the ones at at the at the library I mean I haven't checked in with Miss Saga but that's part of their renovation so that's relatively new um Edmonton has a Community Kitchen um that is extremely well used now it's has its own staff um so it has its own Department that runs it and and so they they'll run sessions like eight ways to cook a cabbage um which again speaks to sustainability but also you know Financial Equity um but they'll also have chefs from all the best restaurants come in and teach macaron classes um and so I do know that that model's been been a great success um but in part because they created their own Department to run it that's amazing okay Bill you're up and then Ray so that Community Kitchen idea is um Jeff you were talking about this would be a library for all of Oakville as opposed to just the folks down here yeah um because yeah I mean you know there's a lot of uh um you know ethnic diversity in this town and there would be this would be an opportunity for them to to you know actually participate um with the rest of Oakville and I think that would be really cool you know integrating everybody together I think that would be a good idea well there's no greater unifier than food right especially for me yeah but you're you're popcorn so that's true uh Ray you're up next thank you um what's popping up here is we're talking about a physical plant or a physical building and what we want to do but I think we really need to start zeroing in because the questions about kitchens and so forth we need to have uh um in line in a I guess in a simultaneous line between the architect and development and what the program deliver is going to be for uh that's really important because you're going to build something that the program can use one of you know look back in history uh unfortunately what's happened we build buildings uh in especially in Recreation uh fields and so forth we build buildings for certain activities and so forth but we never put storage in and and it's always been a fundamental problem in all our buildings uh throughout the years and you know you want to run these programs or or Service delivery and unfortunately you just don't have the uh the flexible space in storage so you know I hate to say it storage is really important uh in buildings and not withstanding is that you know we're talking Partnerships um that Service delivery model is is appropriate but it needs to have a lot of work done to it and who does what and who's responsible for um I think Jeff made the point is that you know it's not all uh Library staff are going to be running old programs they would facilitate uh the space and so forth and work with them it could be the YMCA might be running a program there or the town of Oak for parks and rec the recreation department there could all kind social services from Halton region so we really need to understand I guess I I direct that to terara working with the uh the consultants and so forth The Architects and what kind of delivery we want to establish in that that new building uh it's a Central Central Library so that's really important how we uh put that together so I just leave it as that no agreed and we do have some outstanding Partnerships but we are somewhat constrained by our current building um so that does give opportunity and we will be having focus groups with a lot of our community Partners to provide them the opportunity of what they would like to see and what are the constraints they see within our buildings um that'll allow them to to actually create more robust Partnerships where they can deliver their Full Slate of programming within our spaces which is a bit more challenging at at the moment just given um the current state of Central so we take your point for sure third floor further on this uh point all right thinking ahead what can we do in this space today that will have a positive impact for Descendants Seven Generations into the future storage come on storage Storage storage no our our our ancestor our descendants will want storage that's for sure Rebecca I was just gonna say I think Andrew kind of addressed this earlier just um building things I think that aren't so much trendy but are just you know respect the past while looking at you know the current trends but also looking ahead but just I think we've all taken a lot of consideration into what we're saying and I don't think any of us are talking about Trends or anything like that I think we're being really mindful um about you know the things that will go there and a lot of us like everyone has shared good solid memories of what they have with the current central branch and so I think that affinity and affection that we have for that will hopefully translate over to this new building as well further comments questions or further comments ideas okay I've got one um and this touches be back to what I said earlier talking about what our future what our descendants would want beyond more space to store stuff uh the ability to be able to expand uh in the existing footprint without having to um you know raise the building or or uh otherwise spend you know gazillion dollars doing it I mean I think of the the hospital when when the hospital that up on the new hospital in dundes was built it was built with a seventh floor which was basically just sheld in space um and they didn't have the money to put the beds in and if you go to the seventh floor it's basically just a just a big open Cavern now we used it during the pandemic or it was set up during the pandemic I don't think it ever got used but it was set for the pandemic and I understand the funding's coming in the near future to open that space up but it was in anticipated that there' be an additional need in the future so I think that if if we want to think ahead as to what um our descendants want uh you know they're going to want to or you know even our near descendants are going to want to know that you know as the community evolves and changes and grows and you know this the southern portion of Oakville when you think of what's Happening Midtown cor is going to grow substantially so having the ability to be able to expand programming expand circulation or collections I think is is an important piece of that so I think that that speaks to the thought of even if we can't afford to build Out programs in a third or fourth floor perhaps we should at least put we should at least plan to potentially add that Sheldon space so we can expand into in the future I know it's not it's not intuitively what we do as a municipality generally but I think it's maybe something we need to get our heads around take the example from the library or from the hospital and and then the other thing is don't buy whatever roofing system that the Ontario Science Center apparently bought that was a political comment it's not gone yet but apparently it's leaving Ray your comments are well founded um Jeff but um the concern I I have is that we're landlocked um that property is very small um so you know maybe in 30 years or whatever year it is we might have outgrown that that site um but again we have different we have other sites for for their libraries but again we've got to be realistic what you can put on that site in the future for expansion and I think the only way you're going to go is up and you won't be going out and wide so I just keep that under under our bills for for for the future thank you see hand over here Meredith Rebeca that's okay um I think that on me um just to add to the idea of space but I love like what we've talked about a lot too is that the library is increasingly looking to push more services out to the community and so I think when we think about like how maybe constrained we are with space I think um thinking about like the services that it's going to push out from that location is also really key as it becomes more of like like a distribution center maybe like a post office you know like where it's not just about storage it's about like what can we have there at that acts as kind of like a hub and the rest is like spokes you know that just kind of come out from it and I think that's a trend like without calling it a trend that we're seeing increasingly so become like part of the library please Rebecca any further bill so your your point about the um you know being able to sort of grow these these you know thinking ahead I mean from what I've I've been reading isn't Oakville supposed to be somewhere around 500,000 by 2050 yeah the bpes are showing substantial growth you know in the next 25 years yeah so I mean there's going to be like tremendous pressure on all of these um institutions in this town and uh you're right we kind of need to think ahead and and sort of prepare for that because um you know as you said Ray it's everything's going up and uh so I don't know it's it's an important piece that you know maybe we should spend more time on these things yeah I mean my point on this is like again you this is this is like an incredibly valuable piece of real estate you know we we bought it with the vision of of being able to create some great space for for use of Oakville I mean in this case it was combination of commercial and and parking space but it was still great space that supported the community I just I feel I feel badly about the idea of of constraining this property to two levels um it's such a waste of the air rights like the the you know the the Capa the ability to be able to go so and I know it's going to be a budgetary issue at the end of the day that they're going to say you know somebody's going to have to make the decision of we going to spend the money to Shell in space or provide more space for you know different Community groups to come together to offer you know banic cooking classes or something I mean these are all going to be decisions we're going to have to make but I think we need to be very we need to be very um we need to be very much aware of the loss of potential um by lock because once you lock this in with two floors I mean chances are especially if you put that really nice piece on the roof chances of actually going up in the future are next to nothing so we either do it now or we you know probably have to not consider it in the future so it would be I think it' be great to get that on the table right off the get-go um and again if you if even if we expand services that are not as staff dependent like again fing Art Space you really you're not that's not really usually staff dependent space right you know an auditorium is used when it's booked and it's usually you know just supervised and so you don't have you know half dozen Librarians running around a Community Kitchen if it was you know provided and made available to the different food banks in town and the different cultural organizations in town again that's not staff dependent so if we provide these spaces um they could always be changed in the future but if you have that if you have that inventory of space available then you've got got so much future potential for our our descendants or even you know like I said our our near descendants because I the growth is going to be happening rapidly most of the people around this table will still be Library patrons as this town approaches you know 500,000 people so yes alsoo so if you if you look 30 years back right 94 I think computers are probably a novelty at a time and you can't think of a Library without computers these days so there's this this digitization if that's a word I guess in terms of of embracing of technology and new things probably going to accelerate even faster 30 years down I don't know what that means as far as Library design but I think there's something there in terms of thinking about Legacy as far as uh turning the building into something that is is um is future proof or modern from a digital perspective put in lots of conduits anything for although mind you we probably won't be using wires in 30 Years it'll all be digital or all be Wireless anything else nothing else okay do we have another question that was the last it was the last one oh unless you have one that you we didn't ask that you think we should have or that you want to ask us any further comments or just free form comments yep go ahead Rebecca and just um the options that you present presented you said were part of like you know when you were um bidding um what's the next step I guess that's my only question do we see like other options you know that include like multiple floors like that kind of thing we are charged to generate two options which which we we are our our commission entails two options at a at a conceptual and schematic level and you'll be seeing those and commenting on them I don't know maybe one of them will have three stories I'm not sure but um yeah so you will be seeing and we're so we're we're going into um a concept design phase now where we're actually going to generate probably three options internally one of those down to two and then you'll be seeing those so there's going to be lots of activity we've kind of been getting setting the stage and gathering information but we're going to start getting the pencils out again and getting into it so um do you have a sense of timeline or is that a Tarra thing I was just G yeah you'll be see before the end of the year okay and Tara is GNA oh there she is I think Tara was going to speak about engagement and the schedule of meetings that's coming up anything further there aren't further questions anything further Bard before we uh thank our guests okay well on behalf of the uh Library board thank you for taking the time to come and speak to us and and solicit our feedback I hope it was helpful it was very very interesting and inspiring okay great so um uh Terry did you want to uh we look forward to seeing you again let me put it that way this is a very important project to uh this board it's very important project to the town I can tell you as a counselor uh we're already starting to get emails and questions about it now that it's uh since since your award uh hit the newspaper uh I've certainly been getting a lot of feedback on it um and so I it's going to become very topical over the next uh uh couple months I would suspect in particular so we look forward to the updates and and uh some some more opportunities to comment thank you thank you thank you so much thank you oh you got Applause this is this is not an easy board yeah one one board member clapping that's a big thing that was a big thing she she was a des she's our yeah uh Rebecca's our designated Clapper just so you know yeah no I heard three there was three there was three um I will be providing a high level timeline as part of the September 18th CEO update where I go over this project as a whole so um we are still working on the exact timelines for when they're going to come back some of that will will directly relate to the public consultation which I'm about to to talk about but I will give some high level pieces but um board consultation uh is a continuing um piece throughout that um so I did want to highlight that that this is actually the first step in our public consultation um and then went away uh we will be launching a public survey uh next Wednesday um so keep an eye out for that it'll go through our socials if you could um continue to push that out through your networks that will be appreciated we're going to also leverage our partners and the um resident associations um to get that out to as many people as possible um we also took a strong look at the survey that we put out earlier in the year through the master plan and made sure that these questions um were SL were different right so we gave Perkins and will all the responses we got from from um the master plan and so these are really more on line um what with what you saw today um October 2nd we'll be hosting a public open house at Central um targeted between five and8 um where the Architects will be there we'll invite the public to come in um we'll have different pieces take feedback um be able to have have those conversations um and then we do have a number of different targeted engagement so as I mentioned will be having um different focus group sessions uh with our community organizations we have over a hundred on the list um so we're really hoping to get a solid turnout for them to get a really clear understanding of what they're hoping for in those spaces um we're going to leverage our uh youth Library leader groups um who you met one of them um in the next coming weeks we're going to lure them in with pizza um and get their thoughts about what they'd like to see in in the space um and as Amy kind of highlighted in in one of her images we're also going to incorp inate consultation into children's programming over the next month through our crafternoon programs that that we host with school AG children um they'll be given all kinds of different materials and tools and ask to Envision spaces that they're hoping for um in in a public library that can then be used um we're also going to host a a private donor and prospective donor event um and as Alia spoke to the indigenous consultation so I just wanted to highlight three key dates and I will follow up with all of you about these um but September 27th is when we're going to host the the donor open house um at Central we're still working on the time but if you can attend it having you all present when we're speaking to donors goes a really long way um we think there's the possibility of raising some some solid um money around uh Central which would then expand our opportunity to do some really amazing things Within These spaces um the October uh second open house again always lovely if if if you come out um and the other thing I wanted to highlight and we're really excited about it was hinted here a little bit is is George phoh is the original architect of Central and Centennial square and Ron bird is the sculptice who did those iron gates and so they've graciously agreed to come in um and sit down with Andrew and actually have a conversation about how Central started and hopefully end up with where it's going um and we think it's a really amazing way to tie the history to the Future um so we're really excited about that event um so keep October 9 9th in your calendar as well but again I will send these out but wanted to let you know um that these are three major events that we're really hoping that you'll be present for that's very exciting thank you for that update members of the board any further questions or comments before we receive this item not seeing any can I get a motion to receive the verbal presentation tonight thank you uh Rebecca and who some here Ray thank you all in favor that's carried uh members of the board we don't have any dis confidential discussion items and uh is there any business to come before the uh uh board tonight I don't think there typically should be new business at a special meeting but in case anybody has any burning thoughts no okay we're moving along the next uh meeting our regular board meeting is held on Wednesday September 18th 2024 right here in the council chambers of 7 PM so I hope everybody can be there uh and with that I will look for motion to adjourn um no this will be Wednesday we had to move it to Wednesday yeah no problem yeah uh motion to adjourn I saw Andrew's hand go up I think and uh Rebecca's hand all in favor this meeting is adjourned thank you and thank you again uh to our our Consultants that was an awesome presentation thank you so much