Cost of new Paris library climbs as historic building continues to sit

The increase “shocked” Coun. John Pearce, “because it hasn’t been that long since the previous estimate,” he said at a council meeting Nov. 26.

But it’s “not unusual” for a heritage project, Petra Matar, a partner at Hamilton’s DPAI Architecture Inc., which is overseeing the restoration, told The Spectator Monday.

“Every time the building sits through a winter, there is going to be additional cost because it is aging without any protection,” she said.

The building is moving into its second winter pre-construction, which wasn’t expected, David Premi, principal and CEO at DPAI, told The Spectator.

Preliminary work began on the Bawcutt Centre — the Paris Old Town Hall on Burwell Street — in the summer of 2023.

A two-storey addition, wood sheds and washrooms not covered by a heritage designation were removed, and the original 1854 building was stabilized for winter, including putting a temporary membrane over the roof, which is beyond its end of life.

“Most of the leaks and a lot of the deterioration happening on the building is around points on the roof where either the membrane has failed or water is pooling because it’s not draining very well,” Matar said.

Although buildings can carry themselves through the years, “once they start to deteriorate — especially a building this age — it starts to happen relatively quickly,” Premi said.

The project has faced delays for several reasons, with the most recent being parking.

A planned underground lot proved “very challenging and prohibitive,” and parking on the north side of Church Street sparked road safety concerns, according to a Nov. 26 report from Mark Maxwell, director of engineering and infrastructure planning for the county.

“The project team is completing a parking survey as part of the zoning bylaw amendment application to confirm that the nearby on-street parking can also support the library and event space programming,” Maxwell told councillors Nov. 26.

The proposed parking strategy will be presented to neighbourhood residents, businesses and other interested stakeholders at a public meeting in December, and staff expect to bring the parking justification, zoning bylaw amendment and tender results back to council in January — setting the project back around a month, Maxwell explained.

The construction timeline is uncertain until council makes a final decision to award the tender or not. So, in the meantime, the contingency will “hedge against any further deterioration of the building,” Kelly Bernstein, library CEO, told The Spectator. 

She added the sooner the restoration work can start, “the less likely it is the contingency will be needed.” 

The county first asked the library to take on the building and its restoration in 2021.

In June 2023, council approved the concept design that would restore the original architecture of the National Historic Site and add a 20,000-square-foot modern addition to make a community hub with performance and event spaces.

At the same time, council approved the project for construction — subject to site plan and zoning applications — and included nearly $13.5 million in the 2024 capital budget for the project.

All in, the cost of the project — including the purchase of the building, construction and restoration, among other expenses — is about $41 million.

If council awards the tender in January, the project would be on track to be complete by the end of 2026, Bernstein said.

Philip Goldsmith, the heritage architect for the project, will speak about the proposal and building condition at the heritage committee meeting on Dec. 5.

“I would encourage anyone who wants to learn more about the restoration work to attend,” Bernstein said.