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Sketch of Rose pavilion
to the left of the Findlay,
presented in 1993.
Despite a last-minute campaign against the
project by the Westmount Finance Action Commit-
tee only 118 citizens registered against the loan by-
lawJanuary 20, 1993. Since 500 were required to
force a referendum, the by-law was approved. It
specified $1.04 million for professional fees, $5.28
million for construction and $1.20 million for
contingencies and the cost of issuing the loan.
Just as the last hurdle seemed to have been
cleared, a controversy erupted that would stall the
project for six months.
The design dispute that had been brewing
between librarians and architects/steering commit-
tee came to a head. The city's own library staff had
already written to chief librarian Lydon on Decem-
ber 2, 1992, voicing concern over a number of
functional points in the layout and in other areas
such as a need for more parking. "The staff are
constantly being asked if this is a plan of which we
approve," the letter said, "and we find it difficult to
give it our whole-hearted support." Their concerns
went public and Rosemary Lydon backed her staff:
"All the professional librarians who've seen the plan
can identify with the issues," she said.
Not all was cast in concrete, declared steering
committee chairman Ullyatt. "There is much work
to be done on the layout. The footprint is essentially
determined... but where all the individual elements
will go is still being worked out."
And city director general Manley Schultz
explained that some of the points the professional
librarians might deem impractical resulted from
efforts not to destroy any of the building's heritage
value nor encroach on the park's green space.
Then on March 1, 1993, in the name of man-
agement restructuring, the position of chief librarian
was abolished by council forcing the departure of
Miss Lydon and generating an outcry from citizens
and professional librarians alike. The issue of a new
management structure became entangled with the
design complaints. To try and resolve some of the
concerns, the city invited some 50 professional
librarians living in Westmount to a "focus group"
meeting March 24. It ended with Mayor Trent
promising to put design work on hold until after a
new library director was hired.
During this interim period, city projects man-
ager Edwin McCavour supervised library operations,
helped prepare for automation and gathered input
from library workers on interior layout.
When Caroline Thibodeau took over the new
position of director of library and culture on August
23, 1993, some of the changes called for by the
librarians' focus group were put into force by the
mayor. The project was back on track. Paramount
was the librarians' concern that the library director
have greater decision-making input in the project.
As a result, the new librarian was added to the
steering committee and a Trent and Thibodeau
Design Team was set up to expedite the numerous
decisions required: the mayor handling architectural
design; the librarian, functional layout.
By December 22, 1993, the design layout was
complete and other key decisions were in place.
Though not immediately announced, retired Alcan
chairman and chief executive officer David Culver
had agreed to chair the $1.5 million campaign
assisted by the professional fundraising firm of
Navion. Gespro SST Inc. was hired as project
manager at a cost of $127,400. A countdown
schedule was being finalized for the move of the
library to temporary quarters and for the approach-
ing period of demolition and construction.
"On time and on budget" became a buzzword.
"That was the condition under which David Culver
agreed to chair the fundraising campaign," the
mayor says. "I assured him I would bring the
project in on time and on budget if he would bring
in the money."
There were some key points, the mayor says.
"Construction costs were going down, so it was
important to move quickly. And I insisted on having
a project manager. The old (Findlay) building was
fraught with the possibility of extra costs from the
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