When the Bracebridge Library moves from its current building on Manitoba St. to the Muskoka Lumber Community Centre (MLCC), it will feature the name of the Coulson family.
Coulson Brothers Scow Service will contribute $130,000 over the next 10 years. The section of the MLCC housing the library will be called the Coulson Family Bracebridge Library.
Kyler Coulson said his family has been using the library for generations and is excited to be able to help build on its future as the “core centre for knowledge, information, and imagination” in Bracebridge.
As well, Don and Joyce MacKay are contributing $50,000 over 15 years for the naming rights to the maker space in the library and Robert Jacob will supply $15,000 over 20 years for naming rights to one of the tutorial rooms. The room will be named after Robert’s late wife Lynn. Mayor Rick Maloney said she served on the library board for two terms and was a lifelong supporter of adult learners, adding naming one of the tutorial rooms after her is a perfect way to honour her memory.
Maloney calls the MLCC a “generational project” and says the project is on target to be finished by fall 2024. “The value is in that it will bring a lot of new opportunities to the community through our arena, fieldhouse, and library,” he adds.
Through previous sponsorship commitments, Maloney says around $3.5 million has been raised. He says that will help chip away at the overall cost of the build which came in at $15 million over town staff’s initial budget of around $75,000,000. “It helps for us to manage a pretty significant infrastructure build in our community,” says Maloney about the community support.
Once the library moves from the 110-year-old building it currently occupies on Manitoba St., Maloney says the community will be asked about what to do with it. “This community has told us loud and clear and this council is committed to ensuring this Carnegie library stays as relevant as it is today on our main street as it will be in the future,” he says.
Maloney says the town has already heard from not-for-profits who are interested in occupying the building once the library leaves.
As for the Bracebridge Arena, which will be 75 by the time the MLCC opens, Maloney says “there is not a lot of life expectancy there.” The current plan, he continues, is to demolish the building. While plans for what to do with the land have not been put forward yet, Maloney floated the idea of building housing.