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West face of 1959 Annex falls in August 1994 to make way for larger building
and new courtyard.
behind the Arts and Crafts Movement of Victorian
England which inspired library architect
Robert Findlay.
"Hopefully an apple tree will be planted in the
new courtyard," she said. A crabapple was.
Meanwhile renovations were under way next
door by Cromwell Construction Inc. to prepare
Victoria Hall as temporary quarters for the chil-
dren's and audio-visual departments. A large crane
hoisted steel beams to the top of the stone tower to
support a new and lower roof. This conceals the
heavy condensing unit for air conditioning equip-
ment. The $850,000 work also included installation
of a sprinkler system and electrical rewiring. The
work would last from April 11 to July 13 so the
library departments could move into the trans-
formed Concert Hall the week of July 11. The stage
area was sectioned off for limited accessibility to
little-used reference material not accommodated at
the St. Catherine Street branch.
A sod-turning ceremony took place June 22 and
safety fencing, 1,000 linear feet of it, was put up
around the site between July 25 and August 5.
And so, by the last week of July 1994, heavy
equipment from Panzini Construction began moving
in to start demolition. For the next three weeks, the
1959 annex fell slowly and carefully. Cost of the
demolition was $55,837, well below the $200,000
budgeted. Dismantling of two greenhouses at the
rear and the enlarging of others was entrusted to
L & B Greenhouses at a further $46,081.
Photographed alone in the rubble on August
22, was a haggard-looking and expendable banana
tree. The construction period had begun.
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