The Amherstburg Branch of the Essex County Library will be re-opening after more than two-months of repairs.
Water seepage in the lower level closed the building on Sandwich St. S. near Richmond St. Feb. 20 — it was supposed to reopen at the end of March. The library will resume regular hours on Monday April 30, nearly a month behind schedule.
Mayor Aldo DiCarlo tells AM800 News getting the right people in to do the job caused a few delays.
"When you have a historical building you can't just call your local contractor," he says. "We had to get an engineer that was a specialist in historical buildings and the appropriate contractors that could do the work within the requirements of the structure."
DiCarlo says many residents politely checked the status of the building on a regular basis — teaching him how much people depend on the library.
"All you have to do if you want to find out [how important] it is, close one [a public library] and you'll see how many people actually still use them," says DiCarlo. "They were very anxious to get back into the library that they still enjoy going to."
Many patrons of the library used alternative means during the closure, " getting books delivered to them and some of them have been making the trek to our neighbouring municipalities."
A pop-up library was also set up at the Libro Credit Union Centre during the closure.