The old Blueskin Bay Library at Waitati. Photo by
ODT Files.
A community group that has raised 90% of its share of
money for a new library at Waitati says it could lose that
funding if the project is delayed until 2015.
"We would be starting all over again," Blueskin Bay Library
Redevelopment Trust chairman Stuart Strachan said yesterday.
Mr Strachan hoped the proposal to delay the project could be
reversed, considering the work that had been done.
The Dunedin City Council's pre-draft annual plan budget shows
$745,000 listed for the library's construction had been moved
from the 2012-13 year to the 2015-16 year.
That money is the council's share of funding for the library.
After some controversy about the demolition of the former
library building, fundraising began last year to raise more
than $300,000, a figure that was the community's share of the
project.
In December, that fundraising was announced as almost
complete, following news of a $200,000 lottery grant.
Mr Strachan said then final costings were required, but he
believed the trust needed about another $40,000, and
construction was expected to begin this year.
Yesterday, he said the fundraising had been 90% completed,
though the final situation would not be known until tenders
were completed.
But the possibility of losing all the funding gained
"certainly would be a high risk" if the project was deferred.
Trusts that provided funding were not so generous as to wait
for that period of time, he said.
"We thought this might happen," Mr Strachan said.
Despite that, the proposal to defer the project was just a
proposal, and he hoped because of the fundraising work, and
because of the strong merits of the project, councillors
would decide to continue with it.
"It's a project that would have the least impact on rates."
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