Work is well underway to transform part of the Paul Martin building in downtown Windsor into a new temporary location for the Windsor Public Library's central branch.
The Windsor Public Library Board heard the second floor, which will be the administrative offices, are nearly complete and work will begin on the 11,000 square foot main level for the public.
Library CEO Kitty Pope expects work to be completed by early December and the library will open to the public in January or February 2020.
"We hope that we will open the doors in January, maybe February. In the interim as we are moving, we will keep the Central library location open," says Pope. "The board was very concerned that there be no break in service."
She says there will be a four to six week moving period and the current location at 850 Ouellette will remain open during the move.
Pope hopes the downtown crowd likes the new location.
"We see great potential in two groups in the community that we haven't had too much interaction with and that is small business in the downtown area and especially secondary and higher education."
Pope adds the current location is more than 100,000 square foot and the new location will be a lot smaller.
"Moving down to 11,000 square feet, has been quite a challenge," says Pope. "We have pushed about a third of our collection out to our branches so our branches are filled to the rafters with resources."
Pope says the plan is to stay at the annex portion, or the back portion of the Paul Martin building for five to seven years.
The city is spending $1.5-million to renovate the space to accommodate the library.