Halifax Central Library | 27 m | 6 fl | Completed

[Nouvellecosse]

I'm a bit surprised to hear people complaining about the new Library's budget. I for one am glad to see the government not penny pinching on a valuable public amenity. I'm so used to seeing historic public buildings that are grand, beautiful, and memorable, while all contemporary public buildings seem penny-pinched, downsized and utilitarian. It's almost like people have this attitude that the city was built 100 or 200 years ago, and all we should be doing today, is spending as little as possible to just maintain it.

It would be disrespectful to taxpayers if the money was wasted, in the sense of accounting irregularities, corruption, lack of transparent bidding etc. But for the government to spend it on a beautiful, centrally located, public facility that we can all be proud of an enjoy? There's nothing shameful or wasteful about that.