A local group is calling for community support to have the Bright's Grove library hub project returned to the 2026 draft budget.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley used strong mayor powers to move the Bright's Grove Library contribution to the unfunded capital list.
"It is recommended that decisions related to the Bright's Grove Library be deferred until clearly defined project parameters are established," read Bradley's public letter. "In the absence of a decision from the Federal Ministry on the grant application, city funds earmarked for the project are better allocated to immediate maintenance needs of existing infrastructure."
Bright's Grove Library Committee Chair Mark Moran wasn't "entirely surprised" by Bradley's decision.
"But I was shocked and dismayed that the mayor would do this after all the work has been put into it, and it had been approved by council at numerous stages. He himself voted for it last year," Moran said.
Council committed $2 million toward the undertaking in the 2025 budget, and moved $2 million from reserves to advance the project in the 2024 budget.
As recently as April, council approved the design for the estimated $5.8 million project.
A post on the Bright's Grove Community Hub Project Facebook page said council would have been asked to approve $211,000 in 2026, so architects could complete their work and put the project out to bid.
"If the design is completed, it can go to tender. If not, it will likely never be built," read the Facebook post.
"If they pull the funding now, whether it will go to tender is anyone's guess, but we won't have the funding to build it necessarily," Moran said. "If they do put the funding in, then it might not all be required, but it'll be there and the [project] can be tendered and built."
As part of the proposal, the group has committed to fundraising $1 million.
"We haven't been able to start on the fundraising campaign because we don't have the final amount because the building hasn't been tendered," Moran said.
However, Moran is "extremely confident" they can achieve this fundraising target.
"Without making a phone call, I would guess that we could have already raised about $800,000 for this project," he said. "People have been coming to us -- foundations, individuals -- wanting to support it. We already have a $100,000 donation from Sue Park from a number of years ago."
The project was expected to receive a $4.5 million grant from the federal government, but the funding is now considered "a mystery." Moran said the funding was initially announced by Nate Erskine-Smith, the former minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.
"The ministry has told us that the project has not been approved because it is not net-zero -- even though we weren't asked to make it net-zero and even though we were told it had been approved," Moran said. "We've asked the ministry to reconsider that and we haven't heard back yet."
Residents are being asked to voice their support for the project by contacting city councillors and the mayor by November 17, which is when budget input will be heard.
During the council meeting at 1 p.m., Moran is also asking people to wear blue to show support for the project.
In an email to the mayor and council Thursday afternoon, Clerk Amy Burkhart said additional funding (beyond what was originally allocated) is required to finalize the work with the architect and bring the project to tender.
Council initially set aside $350,000 for detailed design work, but in 2022, the architect agreed to complete the work for $286,000. Additional architectural and consulting fees will bring the total overall architectural fee to $497,870.
Burkhart said council can fund the balance from the $4 million set aside for the project.
An update will be included in the November 25 agenda package, when budget deliberations are set to take place.
The community hub project was hoped to include an accessible facility for residents to utilize the public library, Gallery in the Grove, and a community room.
