Bowden Library's grand opening on Wednesday, Oct. 12 saw about 140 people drop by to visit its new location beside the town office at Bay 2, 2101 20 Ave.
“It is with great sadness that we moved out of the existing centennial library building,” said Mayor Robb Stuart to the gathered crowd at the ribbon cutting ceremony at 1 p.m.
“It was in need of too many costly repairs. The new site here is more central, and has more space to accommodate our growing needs.
“The town sees a bright future for this location,” said Stuart.
Red Deer County mayor Jim Wood was also present to help Stuart cut the ceremonial ribbon.
“We recognize the importance that this library provides to both our residents and yours,” said Wood.
“We have a changing library system with changing needs, and Bowden Library looks like it is meeting those needs,” Wood said in reference to the presence of rentable media and computer and Internet access modern libraries provide.
“We're very pleased with it. It's a nice, bright place, with room for expansion,” said Andy Weiss, the chairman of the Bowden Public Library Board.
The new library is about 340 sq. ft. larger than the previous library, and Weiss said the layout is far more beneficial.
“The other library was sort of chopped up into various sections; this is one big square, if you will,” he said.
Earlier that morning, Weiss noted that space had been made for about 50 school children to listen to an author's reading in the library by simply wheeling the bookshelf out of the way.
“Libraries are more than just books now. We do cultural, electronic, and a variety of other courses and programs,” said Weiss.
“We're expanding on our desire to be a big part of the community.”
This desire is evident in the artwork of local students adorning the walls of the new facility, and the library's effort to prominently feature the works of local authors like Michael Parlee's Son of Sister Maria.
“The new location has already proven to be very successful – we have more walk-in traffic here,” said Weiss.
“People going to the post office and noticing that we're here can take advantage of the close proximity.”
“I love it,” said Bowden resident Glynn Graham, a senior who lives in Westview Manor. “It's bright and cheerful.”
Graham's only concern is that it's now further away from his home. “It's a good central location, but I live in the manor, so the other library was handier,” he said.
Graham said he estimates it may be a bit of a chore to venture to the library's new location once winter has set in.
Donna Thompson, a relatively new resident to Bowden, said she obtained a library membership card earlier this summer, and has been frequenting the library ever since.
“The selection is excellent. This library's going to shorten a long, cold winter,” said Thompson while studying the back of a Nora Roberts book.
Thompson said she'll likely be taking advantage of the computers and Internet services offered at the library.
“I'm going to drop my own Internet. And if I ever need help, there's someone here who can walk me through it,” said Thompson.
“This was a very long process, but this was worth it,” said Weiss.
“At the end of the day, I am absolutely thrilled at how everything has turned out.”
An engineering study of the old library facility estimated the cost of bringing it up to today's building codes at about $65,000, said Sheila Church, the town's representative on the Bowden library board.
“And that wouldn't have given us any more room,” she said. “Then later on we had trouble with the plumbing, which would have raised the costs even more. We didn't have that amount of money, but we did have enough to renovate this space, and the town graciously said we could use this space for the library.”
Church also represents Bowden on the Parkland Regional Library board, where she sits as the regional director.
Currently, the Bowden Cultural Enhancement Society is looking for ways to utilize the former library building, said Church.
