Fendalton Library to temporarily close for earthquake repairs

25 November 2011

Fendalton Library will close tomorrow to allow earthquake repairs to be carried out.

The library on Jeffreys Road, which partly re-opened to the public last month, will close at 4pm on Saturday 26 November.

Repair work will begin next week and it is hoped the library will re-open in February next year.

General Manager Community Services Michael Aitken says, The need for these repairs was identified after the building underwent a detailed engineering evaluation. The assessment is part of an ongoing process being carried out by the Council to proactively ensure all its facilities undergo full engineering reviews after the earthquakes and aftershocks over the past year or so.

The library would have been closed over the Christmas and New Year public holidays anyway. As the contractor is available to start work now, closing the library now will allow us to get the repair work underway in earnest so we can re-open it in the New Year.

Only some of the library is currently open as part of it has been occupied by Council staff since after the February earthquake. Most of these staff will have returned to the Civic Offices in Hereford Street or the temporary Council offices in Tuam/Lichfield Streets by the time the library closes.

The nearby Papanui and Redwood Libraries remain open, with the former now open seven days a week. A new Central City library will also open in Peterborough Street on Monday 19 December.