Architects will spend the next six weeks assessing what kinds of upgrades are needed at the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, which houses the Astor Theatre. File photo by Ed Halverson

The Region of Queens has hired architects to come up with a plan to modernize the historic Astor Theatre in downtown Liverpool.

DSRA Architecture of Halifax has experience working on heritage buildings such as the Lunenburg Academy, Province House in Halifax and Halifax City Hall. Councillors approved spending $17,500 from the accumulated budget surplus.

The region owns the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, which houses the Astor. The Astor Theatre Society leases it from the region.

The Astor is limited in what kinds of events it can hold, especially in summer and fall, because it does not have a modern climate control system.

It relies on an oil-fired hot water furnace for heat and windows for ventilation.

The building also needs many upgrades to meet provincial accessibility requirements.

Elise Johnston, who is the region’s former accessibility coordinator and now its manager of capital projects, says hiring the architects will kickstart the process to assess the building’s needs. 

“As we know it can be quite stifling hot, especially in the summer,” she told councillors at a recent meeting.

“It’s very uncomfortable. So it affects their operations. It’s a big project. 
We have looked at a few independent reviews and designs, but then that didn’t take into consideration the accessibility (concerns). So if we’re going to do this, we need to do it in a holistic way.”

Johnston told councillors that the region and the Astor have discussed installing a modern HVAC system before, as well as an accessible lift to get to the second floor and a universal washroom. But those projects were discussed in isolation and not part of one overall plan.

She said hiring the architects will help get the necessary work started, “which would be to look at all the applicable codes, all the top priority needs, get some community engagement, and plan the steps forward. The main question is, what is priority, what can come first? 
How do we phase this over a period of time?”

Eric Goulden, chairman of the Astor Theatre Society, told QCCR that the much-needed upgrades could potentially be a multimillion-dollar project.

“All in all, they’re going about it in the right way,” he said.

“It needs an architect. It’s an old building. It requires a significant amount of work to protect its heritage. All good, all very, very good. And great support from the council.”

District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins asked whether the region gets any revenue from ticket sales at the Astor. 

Joanne Veinotte, the region’s director of finance, said a portion of each ticket sold goes into a special capital projects fund for the building.

Jenkins said that because the Astor is such a big part of downtown Liverpool, he’d like the region to develop a five-year plan.

“I think we need to do more to preserve this building and make it a viable building moving forward.”

Johnston said this project is meant to do that and to make it “a more revenue-generating building”.

She told councillors the architects plan to begin work immediately with a report back to council in about six weeks.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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The Liverpool junior curling program at the Liverpool Curling Club teaches youth from 5 to 19. (Rick Conrad)

The possible next generation of Brad Gushues or Colleen Joneses head to the Liverpool Curling Club twice a week to work on their throwing, sweeping and hurrying hard.

The Liverpool junior curling program counts about 26 Queens County youth from five to 19 years old. 

Instructors teach the kids various skills during the hour-long sessions twice a week. The youth work toward certain benchmarks and gaining badges before going on to the next level. 

QCCR dropped in on a session on a recent Saturday to see what it was all about. Here are some of the sounds and people involved in the Liverpool junior curling program.

You can listen below

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

QCCR acknowledges the assistance of the Community Radio Fund of Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative

David Trueman, branch supervisor of Thomas H. Raddall Library in Liverpool, speaks to a group this week at a public consultation session on the design of the temporary location of the library. Elise Johnston, accessibility and inclusion co-ordinator with the Region of Queens, is leading the sessions. (Rick Conrad)

It may not be the location that many Liverpool library users want, but they say they’re going to make the best of it.

The Region of Queens has been holding public consultations this week on the design of the temporary location for the Thomas H. Raddall Library.

Region of Queens councillors voted in February to move the library to the Liverpool Business Development Centre on White Point Road by the end of the year. 

The current lease at the Rossignol Centre in downtown Liverpool expires Dec. 31. Sherman Hines, who owns the building, also has it up for sale.

The municipality owns the business development centre. It currently houses the Global Empire call centre and Belliveau Veinotte accountants.

It’s supposed to be a temporary location, while the municipality works on a long-term plan. 

Councillors set aside $1,050,000 for renovations to the 6,500 square-foot space, though staff said it could cost as much as $1.26 million.

Municipalities look after buildings and furniture for libraries, while the provincial government provides about 70 per cent of overall funding.

Finding a new home for the library has been fraught with delays and controversy since 2022, when the region allocated $3 million from an unexpected budget surplus to its construction. 

The library steering committee twice recommended a site near Queens Place Emera Centre, with councillors ultimately nixing that plan both times.

Many residents at a December meeting told councillors they did not want the library at the call centre site, which is outside of town in an area with no sidewalks and very little lighting.

But with a deadline to vacate the current space looming, the region decided the call centre was the best option for now.

This week, about 40 people have attended public consultations so far. The last one is on Saturday at the library at 12:30.

The proposed design includes two large program rooms that can be combined into one, a teen room with soundproofing for a miniature recording studio. That room could also be used as a smaller meeting area. The new space also features an open area for kids, as well as a large kitchen and expanded washroom facilities.

That’s in addition to the large area set aside for the library’s current collection of books and other materials.

Elise Johnston, the region’s accessibility and inclusion co-ordinator, is leading the consultations with David Trueman, the library’s branch supervisor.

Cathie Pearl-Wentzell was at one of the sessions on Thursday. The Brooklyn resident says her family have been library users since she moved to the area in 1977.

“I think it was very informative, I learned a lot, it’s good to have the opportunity to have input,” she said. 

She said she’s disappointed in the location, but there are benefits to the new space.

“I’ve come to accept that, vehemently opposed (to the location), let my councillor know, let the mayor know. My question is can they tear this building down and build the library on this site? I don’t know.

“I think it’s going to have a lot of opportunities. Parking being one, it’s going to be much more accessible, much more comfortable climate-control-wise. And everybody has the best interest at heart, so you can’t go wrong with somebody with their hearts in the right places.”

Melissa Swatsenbarg of Liverpool uses the library at least once a twice a week. She said she likes being able to give her input on the design.

“It kind of culminates all the things I’ve been listening to over the past year and a half because I’ve been talking to a lot of people over the past year and a half about it.

“I like the final idea of having a fairly large kitchen and a designated teen space. I like the plans to have a more open children’s section.”

She said she likes the more modern amenities of the new space, even though the location isn’t ideal.

“None of us are really thrilled we have to go all the way through town to get back out of town to go to it,” Swatsenbarg said.

“It’s kind of out of the way. And there are no sidewalks. My kids will bike into the library here. (Out there), it’s a very busy road and it’s not a very safe road trying to get up and around there. So in that aspect, it’s going to change how many kids I allow to take themselves to the library.”

Even though councillors decided to move the library to the call centre space, they also acknowledged that a newly elected council in October could tackle the issue of a new library. But that could still take at least three to five years to happen.

In the meantime, some at the consultations suggested keeping up the pressure on council candidates for a new library in a more central location.

The last public consultation session is at the library on Old Bridge Street on Saturday from 12:30 to 1:30. People can also email accessibility@regionofqueens.com with their suggestions.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Thomas H. Raddall Library. Photo Ed Halverson

The public will soon have a chance to give their feedback on the design of the temporary library location in Liverpool.

Region of Queens councillors voted in February to move the Thomas H. Raddall Library to the Liverpool Business Development Centre on White Point Road by the end of the year. The current lease at the Rossignol Centre in downtown Liverpool expires at the end of December.

The municipality owns the business development centre. It currently houses the Global Empire call centre and Belliveau Veinotte accountants.

It’s supposed to be a temporary location, while the municipality works on a long-term plan for the library. 

Councillors set aside $1,050,000 for renovations to the 9,200 square-foot space, though staff said it could cost as much as $1.26 million.

Elise Johnston, accessibility and inclusion co-ordinator, told councillors this week that she proposes full public input on the design for the temporary space. 

‘We’re not talking about all the options. We’re not talking about the location, we’re talking about balancing the programmatic needs and the sizes of the room. 

“Does the public want to see two bigger program rooms together that can join as one making sure one has a kitchen, or do we want to see more of a teen space or more of a theatre space?”

Johnston is recommending at least one morning and one evening in-person “working design” session, where options can be discussed and manipulated in real time using 3D modelling. She also suggested livestreaming the sessions on Facebook.

The meetings would be held at the current library’s location at 145 Old Bridge St., in Liverpool, so that people can get a sense of the space at the new place, Johnston said.

“We’re reusing a lot of the shelving and I think that’s a good way for people to visualize,” Johnston said. 

Staff would continue to gather feedback for two weeks, she said, with a final layout being confirmed by mid-July.

Mayor Darlene Norman emphasized that everybody is welcome to attend the sessions and give their input.

District 6 Coun. David Brown said he liked the approach that Johnston proposed.

“I think having it interactive in the library space, it gives people a better chance of scale so they know what they’re getting.”

Councillors will vote on the motion at their June 11 meeting. The region would schedule the sessions as soon as they’re approved by council, promoting them with printed flyers and on social media, by email and announcements on QCCR.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen below for the May 30 news update