Land deal for new Ottawa main library fails

Negotiations to secure property in downtown for the main branch of the Ottawa Public Library have failed, so it's back to the drawing board for the library's board.

The board said when it announced last year that the main branch would get a new location, it planned to build a new $180-million library building in the city block bordered by Albert, Lyon, Bay and Slater streets.

The current building at Metcalfe and Laurier streets, officials said, was built 35 years ago, and as a result, has modern accessibility and security challenges that couldn't be overcome.

An agreement couldn't be reached this week between the city and one of the current property owners at Lyon and Albert streets. The city was willing to pay $26 million for the property at that location.

The board said it will go back to its shortlist of three other potential sites but it could be springtime before the main library project can take another step, board chairwoman and councillor Jan Harder said.

Meanwhile, some main branch users like Esperanza Olympia-Cann, who is a frequent library user, said the current main branch is difficult to use with its one-way escalator.

"I'm a young senior, so for me that was very difficult. So going down, I have to sometimes use the elevator," she said.

Chief librarian Barbara Clubb said the library will speed up improvements at its many smaller branches in the meantime.