| NEWS
RELEASE |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 30, 2020
CENTRAL BRANCH OPENS IN PAUL MARTIN BUILDING MONDAY
On Monday, February 3, the Central Branch of Windsor Public Library will open in the Paul Martin Building (PMB) at 185 Ouellette Avenue. Concurrently, the 850 Ouellette library location will close to allow staff to de-commission the building, pending the completion of the sale to the Downtown Mission at the end of the month.
Windsor Public Library will occupy two floors of the Paul Martin annex. The first floor will house the public library and the second will contain administration offices and auxiliary services. Hours of operation will remain the same: 9 am-9 pm Monday through Thursday, 9 am- 5 pm. on Friday and Saturday and 1 pm to 5 pm on Sunday.
“The 185 Ouellette site is in a prime location close to bus and bicycle routes with plenty of parking available in the area and convenient to St. Clair College and University of Windsor students,” says WPL CEO Kitty Pope. “Materials and resources not making the move to the new location have been distributed to other library branches. Library staff has worked extremely hard to ensure 185 Ouellette is a welcoming public library space.”
The PMB annex was completed in 1959 and complements the Art Deco Paul Martin Building that opened in 1932. Previous occupants include Canada Post, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Canada Border Services Agency and various other federal departments.
Renovations to the PMB cost approximately $1.77 million to create the 11,000 square-foot library space and the accompanying library offices on the second floor.
In 2018, the Windsor Public Library Board approved the new Central Library Functional Plan that staff and architects began in 2016. The two-phase initiative captures the vision for a new central library and includes costing estimates and the results of external community consultations. The Plan provides a road map for the WPL Board and City Council to follow and move forward to build a new Central Library in the downtown core.
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ABOUT WPL: The Windsor Public Library Board and staff believe in the freedom to read, learn and discover. The WPL enriches the community by providing access to resources that inform, entertain and enlighten. More than 40 percent of the community – 87,762 – have active library cards and over 725,000 people visited WPL in 2018. Circulation of library resources topped 1.13 million, staff answered close to 70,000 community questions and public computers and WPL WIFI were accessed 249,000+ times.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Chris Woodrow |cwoodrow@windsorpubliclibrary.com |519-255-6770 (O) |519-796-2640 (M)
Windsorites mixed over new downtown library location
Library’s central branch location moved to the Paul Martin Building Monday
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/windsor-public-library-mixed-reaction-new-location-1.5449582