Amherstburg council to review repair costs of Carnegie Library during 2026 budget

The Essex County Library in Amherstburg, Ont., on Thursday, June 23, 2016. (Michelle Maluske / CTV Windsor)

Amherstburg council is considering adding funds to the 2026 budget for repairs to the Carnegie Library on Sandwich Street South.

Council received a report on Monday evening that outlined the deteriorating condition of the 22 library windows and sills. The library was built in 1913 and is recognized as a heritage building due to its historical significance, and its characteristics.

In April 2025, council asked administration to provide a report on the condition of the windows and the sills with an action plan on how to repair them in the near future.

A specialized contractor found that a full restoration of the windows is estimated at $152,000, as it would require both lead and asbestos removal, however, administration recommended hiring a heritage building consultant first to determine whether the windows should be prioritized over any other potential issues at the library.

No town funding would be available until 2027, despite the library needing between $5 million and $7 million in overall upgrades.

Council voted to receive the report as information, and will revisit potential funding during the capital budget deliberations.

Llyod Sayer attended as a delegate and urged council to put money forward sooner rather than later.

“Those of you that are homeowners know that if you don’t paint, if you don’t maintain... wood rots. It’s a fact of life. Once wood rots, in this case I’m talking about the exterior very rather ornate trim around the library windows, the water will get underneath and then big, big problems start.”

Another deligate, Bill Petruniak said, “It should come as no surprise that if something needs repair and you ignore it, it does not go away or get better... it gets worse. When things get worse, it usually costs more money.”

Coun. Molly Allaire, who put the motion forward, says the town must find the funding to make these improvements to the library.

“Since 2024 we’ve had 16 elevator outages, we’ve had six days where they’ve had heat closures, there’s cracked foundation, water damage, broken lights, windows with screens that fall out, and our library is growing. We now have 5,177 active members, and it’s growing.”

Coun. Diane Pouget says it’s important to discuss this during the 2026 budget deliberations.

“If our library needs $5 million to $7 million, we have to find the money to keep up on our repairs of all buildings that we own.”

Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb spoke, and said a heritage building consultant needs to be hired before the money is dished out.

“It has to be done properly, you just can’t call your local painter and have them do it. So, we need to get a proper assessment, and then go in the order of priority. I think there may be foundation problems in there, there’s absolutely HVAC problems in there... the windows are just one more problem that has to be prioritized.”

Council voted unanimously in favour of the motion to revisit the funding during budget talks.

The Amherstburg Library branch is a 3,200-square-foot, two-floor building.

Town council will meet for budget deliberations starting on Dec. 8.