City officials and dozens of onlookers celebrated Wednesday as crews installed the final roofing panel on the LRT encapsulation tunnel, triggering construction of the new Central Library.
Municipal leaders, past and present, city staff and representatives from the Calgary Public Library and the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation gathered in the East Village and donned hard hats made of Lego bricks to mark the occasion.
“It means we can start a green light on the vertical construction of the new library,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who thanked his predecessor Dave Bronconnier and former alderman Linda Fox-Mellway, both in attendance.
“Figuratively, and literally, the LRT encapsulation is the foundation for building that new library,” Nenshi said.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi speaks at the “topping off” ceremony of the extension of the LRT tunnel in the East Village. The completion of the tunnel allows construction of the new Central Library to begin.
The 18-month project started in February 2014 and involved 2,500 cubic metres of cement, 420 metric tonnes of rebar and over 60,000 man-hours to complete the 150-metre encapsulation.
Officials noted the structure, which serves as a foundation to the library building, was completed largely without affecting service of the LRT.
Coun. Druh Farrell said the new central library represents the single largest investment in a public cultural facility since the city hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics.
“A lot of people said this tunnel was impossible, but this is a library and to channel Alice in Wonderland we do six impossible things before breakfast,” said Farrell.
“Great libraries are hallmarks of thriving communities that embrace ways to connect citizens to one another and to the world,” said Farrell.
Work now begins on the 240,000-square-foot facility over 750 days in four phases. The $245-million library is scheduled to open in 2018.
“The location of the new Central Library … will strengthen the fabric of community life by weaving the east village, the original heart of Calgary, back into the city,” said Lyle Edwards, chair of the CMLC which oversees the development of the East Village.
“Finally, I think the East Village will become part of downtown,” Edwards said.
Janet Hutchinson, chair of the library board, thanked city council and staff for understanding the unique role libraries play in fostering an engaged citizenry.
“Taking the new Central Library from the idea stage to where we are today would not have been possible without the moral and financial support of the City of Calgary,” Hutchinson said.
