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Winnipeg’s St. John’s library opens after $2.8 million in upgrades

Winnipeg mayor Brian Bowman and colleagues from city hall share laughs with children at Friday's reopening of St. John's Library. Austin Siragusa/Global News

After more than century of providing Winnipeg readers with books, St. John’s Library is starting a new chapter.

The Salter Street library reopened Friday following two years of construction that saw just shy of 950-squrare-feet of new space added to the 104-year-old designated heritage building.

“It’s always exciting to see the results of renovations and we’re thrilled to see the upgraded St. John’s Library reopening to the benefit of this community,” said Winnipeg mayor, Brian Bowman in a release.

Updates to the Carnegie library include a redesign of the main floor and lower level, two new tutorial rooms, two program rooms, and renovated washrooms.

The work maintained and refurbished the library’s original features, and also saw new shelving and furniture, a lift, an accessible entrance and washroom, and a new reading area and playground added.

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The work cost $2.8 million, with the federal government kicking in $50,000, the Winnipeg Library Foundation adding $1.25 million, and the city and province picking up the rest of the tab.

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