Martensville library patrons will be able to browse the bookshelves in comfort later this summer.
The facility is slated to have air conditioning installed in the next few weeks.
Martensville City Council voted at its May 16 meeting to approve the installation of a new commercial furnace and air conditioning system in the Martensville Civic Centre. The former school, constructed several decades ago, was extensively renovated in 2002 to accommodate the Martensville branch of the Wheatland Regional Library.
Unfortunately, that renovation didn’t include air conditioning.
Another quirky feature of the building is that until now, it has operated using five residential furnaces.
One section of the building is actually serviced by two aging residential furnaces. Recently, one of those two furnaces gave up the ghost, and the other one on the same system is on the verge of failure as well.
The Martensville city administration consulted with heating contractors, who recommended replacing the two residential furnaces with one commercial unit. The cost of a 100,000 BTU two-stage furnace was pegged at $5,875.00 plus taxes.
The city administration recommended adding an air conditioning unit at the same time as the furnace replacement. The cost of the A/C unit was quoted at $4,900.00 plus taxes.
Funding for the project is slated to come from the city’s Parks Infrastructure Reserve.
CLASSROOM FLOORING
Another upgrade to the Civic Centre is also planned for this summer in the form of new flooring for classrooms leased by Great Plains College (GPC). City council voted to approve the project at its May 16 meeting.
The project will be cost-shared by the city and GPC through a provincial grant program similar to renovations undertaken over the last few years. New flooring was installed in the building’s washrooms in 2020 and common area in 2022. The total cost of the new classroom flooring is $28,350.00 plus applicable taxes. The city’s portion of that cost is $9,450.00 plus applicable taxes.