More Info →Levin Library centenary

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Horowhenua District Council will hold a special meeting today where the contractor charged with constructing the Te Takere community centre at the library is expected to be confirmed.

The agenda for the meeting named Levin-based company Crowe Construction as the recommended contractor after it offered to complete the work at the lowest price.

The company also recorded the highest score for its ‘‘non-price attributes’’, which, among other factors, rates a company’s resources and track record.

The company quoted about $3.5 million for the work, while council engineers initially estimated $4 million.

Horowhenua Library Trust’s head of libraries Joann Ransom said the upgrade was needed. ‘‘We have no available space,’’ she said.

The announcement coincides with the day the original library was opened in 1911 – then called the Carnegie Public Library – on the corner of Oxford and Bath Streets.

Mrs Ransom said the name came from Andrew Carnegie, who helped to fund libraries all over the world.

The use of the library had changed over the past 100 years, she said.

‘‘When it first opened . . . it wasn’t about recreation, it was about learning and knowledge.

‘‘Now we support everything – that life-long learning and recreational reading.’’

The current site, built in the 1960s, was far more comfortable than the original building, which Mrs Ransom said was cold and ‘‘must have been like a tomb’’ to work in. ‘‘The new building was superb – really high-quality and modern design,’’ she said.

Mrs Ransom said she was looking forward to the Te Takere development, which would house the library, a cafe, meeting rooms and exhibition spaces.

But there was plenty of work still to do, with nearly $1.5 million still needed to cover the cost.

That amount would need to be found through fundraising and corporate sponsorship.

Council strategic and corporate services manager David Clapperton said the funding drive had gone ‘‘particularly well’’ so far, considering construction had not even started yet.

‘‘It’s difficult to find corporate sponsorship when it’s not known that it’s going ahead,’’ he said.

If the council accepted the offer from Crowe Construction building would start in early December, with the project expected to take about 52 weeks, he said.

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Date

November 29, 2011