DRYDEN – The city’s public library has a roof problem, but Northern Ontario Heritage Fund money will enable a fix.
Local MPP Greg Rickford, who is the province’s northern development minister, announced this week that the library will receive $133,153 from the Heritage Fund to replace the library roof and install a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system at the Van Horne Avenue building.
The roof had leaks in several spots that put some of the library’s book collection at risk, Dryden Public Library chief executive officer Caroline Goulding said.
“Not having water get into a library is very important,” she noted dryly.
As well, she said, library staff and users are “excited to be getting a reliable, functional HVAC system.”
The nearly 60-year-old building’s existing HVAC has not been functioning well, she said.
When the roof work and HVAC installation will begin is not known, Goulding said.
The fund has “been able to target small community assets that mean the world, not just to the town or city but to surrounding communities,” Rickford said.
“And the Dryden library is perhaps one of the best examples of that out here in Northwestern Ontario.
“It's an amazing building,” he said. “They offer an incredible array of services and programs, and to be able to offer those programs and services you've got to have the building to do it.”
The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation fosters economic growth, job creation and workforce development in the North, benefiting communities of all sizes.
Since June 2018, it has funded 6,713 projects to the tune of more than $835 million.
