£1.5m grant books town a new library
Oct 31 2007 by Ben Guy, The Journal
A NEW library and community centre are set to be built in a Northumberland town following a lottery grant of £1.5m
The Mechanic’s Institute in Haltwhistle will be turned into a library, over two floors, providing space for a range of community groups.
Northumberland County Council applied for the grant from the Community Library fund and the scheme was awarded the maximum amount to allow it to progress.
Marguerite Gracey, acting divisional director for customer services, libraries and archives at the council, said: “We are absolutely thrilled.
“Successful libraries are right at the hub of their community and that has been our vision for Haltwhistle.
“We will be working closely with the Haltwhistle Partnership to ensure this business case is delivered on time.
“Every council was allowed to make one bid and we put forward Haltwhistle as our main priority.
“We felt it had the greatest chance for success because of the opportunity to create a resource that can bring benefits to every person living in the area – as well as library users. This proposal will enable us to really improve library provision for the people of Haltwhistle – as well as opening hours.
“We could not have achieved this without the support and input of local people and other members of the partnership, who have really grasped the opportunity to shape the sort of facility they want.
“It will be a bright, lively place where people of all ages can visit. This is a great example of local people working together to improve a valuable service.”
The development will include preserving the original stone Mechanic’s Institute building.
The Haltwhistle Partnership will have new offices in the building.
Dr Graham Ridley, chair of the partnership, said: “We are delighted with the news and are grateful to the council for putting forward this project as its only bid for the lottery funding.
“There is still a great deal of work to do in finalising the details and there will certainly be further consultation with local people.”
The council, which owns the building, will now prepare a detailed business case for the plans, which will be submitted to the lottery for final approval in the next six months.
Work on site is expected to begin next summer, with the building being transferred to the partnership and the library being run by the county council.
