Halifax Regional Council approved a new library on Bedford waterfront this week.

The plan and budget for the 21,000 square foot library in the new proposed Mill Cove Ferry Terminal was approved during Tuesday’s council meeting.

The long-term capital plan for the library is expected to cost $10 million beginning in fiscal 2027-2028 and $5 million in 2028-2029. Additionally the annual staffing and operating costs required once the library opens is an estimated $723,000.

The budget would require an increase in taxes of about $24 for the 2024-2025 year. Another option would be for the municipality to debt fund the project.

“We can debt fund it within a 10 year term [or] we could do it over a 20 year term,” says Crystal Nowlan, director of asset management.

The proposed ferry terminal was originally announced in 2021 and expected to be up and running in three years but that timeline was put on hold. The terminal is now expected to be running by 2027. District 16 Coun. Tim Outhit says he has been asking for a new library in Bedford since 1996.

“While we’ve quadrupled in population that expansion hasn’t happened,” Outhit says.

The building is anticipated to be two stories and allow access from transit routes, vehicles or mobility trails and would have an open seated area as well as a performance space. The project will still need federal government approval for the proposed ferry terminal in order to be built.

If the ferry terminal isn’t approved Outhit says, “We’ll find another location for this library but in the meantime let’s keep optimistic.”

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