The City of Windsor wants to keep the Central Library Branch at its current location for another eight months.
Mayor Drew Dilkens tells CTV News a proposal will go before city council on Monday to consider keeping the library at 850 Ouellette Ave. for the rest of the year.
Dilkens confirms they are in talks with the Downtown Mission for a prolonged stay.
The city sold the library building to the Downtown Mission last year for $3.6 million, and the Mission was scheduled to move in to begin renovations in June.
The library was to move out by May 18 and begin preparations to move into the historic Paul Martin building.
But $1.5 million worth of renovations could take eight months to complete, and Dilkens says that is too long to be without a library in the core.
"I want to make sure we continue to provide library services, that there's no gap in continuity in terms of the move from our 850 Ouellette to the paul martin building,” says Dilkens.
Another option is to create a pop-up library at the new city hall.
"We could manage a little bit at the existing city hall and probably bring the FRED bookmobile out, but neither are ideal alternatives,” adds Dilkens.
When contacted by CTV Windsor, Downtown Mission Executive Director Ron Dunn stated “as of now, there have been no changes to the dates.”
