Winnipeg committee to consider heritage protection for West Kildonan Library
CBC News | Posted: January 4, 2023 11:00 AM | Last Updated: January 4, 2023
City wanted to mothball Jefferson Avenue building as recently as May 2022
Winnipeg's West Kildonan library is a candidate for heritage status.
On Monday, city council's property and development committee will consider a recommendation to place the 55-year-old, 14,000-square-foot Jefferson Avenue structure on the city's list of historical resources.
Heritage protection would represent a major reversal for one-storey building. In May 2022, city hall was poised to decommission the library and move its operations into a space inside Garden City Shopping Centre.
That plan was halted in the face of stiff community opposition.
Now the city's historical resources and buildings committee wants to preserve the library "as an excellent example of the International Style," an architectural movement related to modernism.
All four facades of the building are being recommended for protection, along with the roof and elements of the interior.