Strathcona County says its community library—the site of an explosion and fire last year—will reopen on May 8.
A Nov. 6 explosion in the lower level of the Strathcona County Community Centre parkade left the building in need of repairs and extensive cleaning.
The county says soot settled throughout the library, requiring a specialized cleaning of each of the collection’s 200,000 items.
“While the library space is no longer in a construction state, it’s still far from functional as a library,” library CEO Sharon Siga said in statement.
“The comprehensive cleaning process will now be followed with the mammoth task of organizing the library’s collections, in preparation for restoring full operations at the Community Centre location.”
Mayor Rod Frank added, “I would like to express a sincere thank you to all library staff for their diligence, as well as to citizens for their patience throughout this process.”
The temporary library at 100 Broadview Drive will close on April 30 and its items will return to the Community Centre location in the week after.
Library users who check out five or more items prior to April 30 will have a chance to win a “Keep Calm and Library On” t-shirt.
The parkade remains closed, although the county said restoration work was finishing up. Once the building has passed safety and provincial clearances, a reopening date will be announced. Parking options include the underground Centre in the Park Parkade, street parking, and at other locations listed online.
