The artist rendering for the new library building brings several issues to consider to the forefront. When I look at the proposed library, I feel very dissatisfied and have a hard time to understand where the vision is that will showcase the community’s cultural ancestry and geography that express the uniqueness of Trail as a destination.
At the market they have the artist rendering conceptual drawing on display with a flip note that says, it may not necessarily look like this; but I’m sure that it will not vary much from the actual drawings that they do have which I personally find very unimaginative. Reading through the plan that was just made in 2012 there are lots of references toward heritage and our heritage consisted of a lot of visionary people that had to depend upon themselves to do great things.
We know that other communities throughout Canada have built libraries that encompass many things that define who they are as a community. Now I think it’s time that we build a building that is environmentally friendly aesthetically pleasing for everyone to enjoy. We have such a great environment that we could put a green roof on top, we could collect all the rainwater for watering, have windows that collect light from all angles, we also have the river that could possibly be used for power and watering purposes.
This is our chance to build a building that could be absolutely beautiful made of wood, with a great design that would represent Downtown Trail with pride. I would love to urge all of you to look at Calgary’s new library or Courtenay’s on Vancouver Island has a beautiful small library.
Libraries seem to be the one building in a community that really say who we are. When I think of our Italian heritage and geography, you know it’s time to stop and go back to the drawing board and get it right the first time.
The artist rendition is giving us a great opportunity to look at increasing culturally and environmentally sound practices and develop a new model in our downtown.
Daniel Haley
Trail