Bracebridge council has approved the awarding of an architectural and consulting services contract for the Carnegie Library Reuse Project, advancing plans to repurpose the former library building in the town’s downtown core.
At its Dec. 10 meeting, council agreed to award the contract to Mitchell Jensen Architects Inc. at an upset limit of $178,500, plus taxes and disbursements. The approval is conditional on adoption of the town’s 2026 Budget and Business Plan.
The municipally owned building at 94 Manitoba St. became vacant in 2024 after library services relocated to the new Coulson Family Bracebridge Library at the Muskoka Lumber Community Centre. Since then, council has been exploring options to reuse the historic structure for municipal and economic development purposes.
In August 2024, council approved retaining the former Carnegie Library in municipal ownership and repurposing it to accommodate the Town of Bracebridge’s Planning and Development Department and the Muskoka Small Business Centre. Staff were also directed to explore co-location opportunities with the Downtown Bracebridge Business Improvement Area, the Visitor Information Centre and the Bracebridge Chamber of Commerce, with the aim of creating a centralized Bracebridge Business Development Centre. Council further authorized staff to engage an architect to assist with space planning and layout, including consideration for storage and display of a portion of the Woodchester Collection.
Council received additional updates in September 2025, including draft floor plans and preliminary cost estimates for rehabilitating and retrofitting the building. At that time, funding of $1.845 million in 2026 and $762,000 in 2027 was included in the town’s long-term capital plan, with construction anticipated to occur over those two years and occupancy expected in 2027. An additional $100,000 was also identified in the 2027 capital plan to support the development of extra parking on a nearby town-owned lot.
During the Dec. 16 meeting, Coun. Barb McMurray raised concerns about escalating costs and asked that the item be removed from the agenda for separate discussion.
“It was only a year ago that the entire thing was going to be $300,000, and we’ve gone way beyond that to $2.6 million,” McMurray said, adding that council should proceed cautiously.
Town staff clarified that the decision before council was limited to the consulting contract and did not approve construction costs. They noted that more detailed information on scope and final pricing would return to council following the tender process.
Mayor Rick Maloney described the approval as an incremental step in a longer process. Following discussion, McMurray agreed to move forward, and council approved the contract.
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Turn it into a strip club
The town also owns the lumber yard! That property would be ideal for town offices. Open concept main floor (no engineer needed to build walls), lots of parking……..but remind me again why the town bought it.
What I would like to know is why the building wasn’t good enough for the library cause it needed too much repair but yet now we’re talking about putting other publicly funded services in the same building. The same building that the same services said would cost too much to repair and wasn’t economically viable for the library and that’s why they need to spend however, many millions of dollars to build the library a new spot.? can someone please make this make sense
Beside the Visitors Centre, I don’t see why we need the other services to be moved downtown. This beautiful building should be used to elevate the tourist’s experience with cultural and commercial ventures.
And what will happen with the public parking behind? Used by town employees?
Claudette Bass
Barb McMurray is right to be concerned about the cost of the “old” library re-fit. Maybe defer any work on this until after the next election. That way the voting tax payers can vote yea or nay on spending the money. I personally want the library to be used, but I would like to see a less expensive plan. Inflation may increase costs a bit, but tax payers should have a say.
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Why do we need the town offices on main street? This old building should be revitalized into something unique that draws the people to downtown. Certainly not town offices. What will happen to the offices they are currently occupying? This is a historic building. What a waste to let the town put their offices in it. Part of it should definitely be used for the info centre but not the rest. A cool market, cafes, irish pub………….
Has this been discussed in public meetings? There is so much potential, but as usual, Bracebridge will stifle any growth in this town.
Should have been rented out to the private sector as a revenue generator-not the opposite! And we wonder why our taxes are so high!