With library, skate park, Turner's a new city hub
May 25, 2009
Lisa Grace Marr
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/571502
The opening of the Turner Park library branch on the south Mountain reflects the changing landscape of Hamilton.
Resident George Ruttle, 82, calls the area the "uptown of the city.
"We've got everything we want here, restaurants, shops, and now this great library."
Ruttle and his wife Nancy have lived on the Mountain for about 56 years. He's seen a lot of changes, but he says the rapid development along Rymal Road near Upper Wentworth is exceptional.
The $8.7-million library -- along with the new Les Chater YMCA, the police station, playparks and skateboard park -- is quickly becoming the focal point of the neighbhourhood.
The library is filled with light, is just one level for easy access, and is built with an eye to the future.
Jennifer Gautrey, chair of the Hamilton Public Library board, said several new features grace the library, such as electronic tags for self-checkout, and an extensive computer lab.
"We can run this library more efficiently than a library half of its size," she said.
"(The city) knew with the development of the south Mountain, they needed to grow with the community. There is a lot of new development, a lot of different ethnic mixes, genders, ages."
Karen Anderson, branch manager, said the library will serve about 70,000 people in an area roughly bounded by the Linc, Upper James, Twenty Road and nearby Upper Wellington.
Ruttle said in the 12 years since he and his wife built their home in the area, the community has been transformed.
"When we built this place, my wife said she was worried about someone building behind us, near Twenty Road," he said. "I said we will never see houses there in our lifetime. I was a little off -- there are about 600 there now."
Scott Duvall, Ward 7 councillor, said Turner Park Branch is in the largest ward in the city by population with about 68,000 residents.
"We're actually running out of room. Rymal Road is the new target for some intensification of development," he said. "This is a beautiful complex. It's amazing that it's really for everyone: seniors to kids."
Duvall said the trick now is to protect the remaining small greenspaces and parks that dot the ward and not just rely on the big parks such as the Rymal Road site.
Anderson said the library has the largest number of under-14-year-old customers and the programming will reflect that.
The programming will also serve many others, including computer classes (two were already filled to brimming), an area just for adults complete with a stunning fireplace, study and meeting rooms, a job search centre and a teen hang-out room.
Madison Alessi, 11, and Shauna Horst, 12, are thrilled with the complex and with the finds in the well-stocked teen library. The two go to the Y's teen night Friday nights, the pool and then stop in at the library.
"We really like to come here, so do a lot of our friends," said Horst.
Shaden Saleh, mother of three girls 11, 12 and 14, is sitting at a table directing the kids and their friends with snacks in tow in the lobby between the Y and the library.
"We come here all the time ever since it opened," she said. "This will be great in the summer for the kids to have something to do. It was so hard to take a bus everywhere."
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