End of the road for McPhillips Ave. landmark; new library ground now broken

It was out with the old and in with the new as Capital Regional District and library board reps marked the latest chapter in the island’s new library building project at a ceremony that coincided with the McPhillips Avenue landmark’s demolition on Thursday.

“Today’s ground-turning ceremony takes us from a dream to a promise for a new library for Salt Spring Island before the end of 2012, whether that’s 14 months or 16 months from now,” said Rita Archer, chair of the library board, during the July 28 event held outside the library’s temporary facility on Jackson Avenue.

Archer said the new library project represents a community-wide effort that will ensure the library can handle inevitable changes in store for public libraries everywhere.

“While the future is difficult to predict, common sense tells us that the survival of local libraries requires that libraries adapt to changing realities,” she said. “The new modern spacious library will greatly enhance our abilities to respond to the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead.”

As Archer spoke to the future of libraries, the sound of demolition work conducted a few hundred metres away on McPhillips Avenue heralded the end of the island’s former library building known as the Mary Hawkins Memorial Library.

By mid afternoon, little was left of the former boathouse that served as a community focal point for nearly 50 years. Crews will continue to prepare the “white house” next door for its impending relocation.

Salt Spring’s CRD director thanked the countless volunteers who played a role in the long campaign to plan and follow through with the $7.3-million library project.

“These kind of people are the kind of people our community respects and applauds because they get things done,” Hendren said.

Hendren, a former library board chair, said he’s thrilled the end is finally in sight after more than a decade of work.

“I’ve woken up to thinking about the library and I’ve gone to bed thinking about this place; it’s occupied me for far too much of my life,” he said. “In a few short months, our new library will open. There will be a new two-storey building, a little over a 1,000 square metres (10,000 square feet) of floor space that will be built to the equivalent of LEED Gold sustainability. In addition to the library, the building will house meeting rooms for community events and organizations and a new home for the Salt Spring Historical Society’s archives.

“After a long and somewhat rocky time, there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Hendren added. “Although the bathtub and the boatbuilding shed got us going, our old friends can no longer serve our community.”

He called the new building a “testament to the community’s dedication to infrastructure and learning.”

Islander Scott Simmons has provided the accompanying video footage of the library's demolition.