Past, Present & Future

In January of 1914 the Red Deer Armoury was built in the centre of the city, just in time to muster the troops bound for the Great War. That same year saw the establishment of Red Deer Public Library, one of the first public libraries in the province.

More than fifty years later the Library moved to its new home in City Hall Park, just a few yards west of the Armoury building, which had in the meantime been converted to Firehall Number One. The new Centennial Library was soon too small for Red Deer's needs, and in 1978 a second floor was added to the original 1967 building.

Ten years later it was evident that the Library would soon need to grow again. With the Fire Department planning a new firehall for downtown Red Deer, the idea of expanding the Library by joining the two buildings was discussed. By 1990 a preliminary plan was in place, and in 1991 the Literacy & Legacy expansion fundraising campaign was underway.  This is the story of that campaign.

The Project Plan

In 1990 a conceptual design of the expanded facility was prepared for the Library Board by Wayne Wright. This concept was the basis of the final design. It linked the Centennial Library (housing adult services and collections,) with a Children's Library moved from the basement to the Firehall/Armoury.

In early 1992, a class of 2nd-year architecture students from the University of Calgary prepared designs for an expanded facility as a class project. The creative solutions these students came up with got everyone's creative juices flowing, and helped focus the library staff on the functional design process ahead. This fun project also helped introduce the community to the project.

Group 2 Architects of Red Deer worked with the Library's Expansion Committee and a Functional Analysis Committee of the Library staff and management, and by December 1993 had developed a final design. This design, fleshed out with detailed specifications, went to construction tender in February of 1994.

The fundraising plan targeted a number of sectors: including:

Government: in a rare case of Federal funding for public libraries, we received $100,000 in Cultural Initiative Program funding from the Department of Communications (now Canada Heritage.) Provincial Community Recreation and Culture grants and Community Facility Enhancement Program funding came following in-depth work with local MLA's. Close liaison with City Administration and elected municipal officials helped to lock in a $1,250,000 commitment from the City of Red Deer. This most important piece of the puzzle was in place early in the process, but ongoing advocacy and the demonstrated success in community fundraising kept City Council support solid to the end.

Service Clubs and Foundations: this is an indicator of community support. Nearly every service club in the city became active sponsors of the project by the end of the campaign. The Red Deer Kinsmen and Kinettes pledged $200,000, the Optimists $100,000, and other groups came up with $50,000 or $5,000 depending upon their other projects. The high profile of the campaign, the fact that an ongoing dependency with the Library need not be undertaken, and the careful attention to appropriate recognition all played a part in this success.

Individuals: a significant portion of the $2,500,000 was raised a loonie at a time, in fundraising programs. The focus of the programs was a physical facility: the Firehall Fun Factory, and the keynote was fun!

The Volunteer Component

Raising $2.5 million is a daunting task. Those who committed to the project in the late 80's couldn't have anticipated the downturn in the economy that was coming. It was going to be harder than anyone imagined.  Volunteers played an important part in the Literacy & Legacy campaign. Fundraising Chair Hazel Flewwelling and Firehall Fun Factory manager Eileen Cole both put in long hours, and helped Library Director Dean Frey co-ordinate more than 300 volunteers during the project.

There were a number of important spin-offs to the involvement of volunteers in the fundraising campaign. As an indication of community support the high number of volunteer hours showed City Council that the project had more than just a nominal connection to the library. Recruiting volunteers from many community groups broadened the base of library users. Finally, active volunteers, each with his or her own connections in the community, helped cement large Service Club and Foundation commitments.

The Firehall Fun Factory

The Firehall Fun Factory had many things going for it. As an Armoury and Firehall it was designed as a big rectangular barn, perfect for regimental dances and fire truck storage, but also for programs for 50-300 people. It also had enough smaller spaces to handle meetings and seminars. It had a concrete floor, well-drained; this helped in cleaning up after country dances and children's craft programs, not to mention petting zoos, llama exhibitions and dalmatian shows. It had big overhead doors, allowing the easy movement in an out of large garge sale items, sound equipment for concerts and parade floats (as well as llamas.) On warm days the doors could be opened, bringing in people from the street and allowing larger clowds than the fire marshall wants in an enclosed space. The large doors also allowed us to move the Old Armouries Tea Room outside, giving customers the chance to sip their tea in a sidewalk cafe and watch the world go by on 49th Street. The Firehall's location was also great; its proximity to the Library enhanced library programs and such special events as the Library book sales.

The Firehall theme was a gold-mine. Latching onto the Dalmatian merchandising craze meant high sales of white-with-black-spotted items: night-shirts, mugs, pencils, books, stickers and all sorts of other things. The number one question asked during tours and programs: "Are you going to keep the fire pole in the new library?" - Yes (it's been mounted in the new Library Link.) "Can I slide down it?" - No.

There were some problems with the building. Though it was proven structurally sound by experts, the Firehall wasn't in great repair, and it required some fixing up to meet fire regulations. It wasn't the most energy-efficient building, and its temperamental boiler required some attention. Overall, though, a fundraising campaign couldn't ask for too much more in a headquarters.

Gift Shop and Tea Room

Though in-house boutiques have been around for years in museums and galleries, public libraries have been strangely reluctant to incorporate retail sales into their operations. A look in a typical book-store demonstrates the range of items that can be sold in a library boutique: stationery, pens and pencils, literary t-shirts, book bags and mugs are common enough. The Firehall Fun Factory sold all these (especially those items with a Firehouse of Dalmatian theme,) plus local authors' books, CDs and tapes of entertainers visiting the FFF, and all sorts of local crafts. Many of the items were placed in the Gift Shop on consignment; some were donated for tax receipts.

The success of the Gift Shop has helped to foster an entrepreneurial attitude among Library staff. The experience gained in this venture will be helpful in the operation of an on-going library boutique in the expanded facility.

A tea room in the Firehall Fun Factory was a natural, considering the baking skills and community-fair hospitality experience represented by the core volunteers. Cafe tables, donated fine china, a tastefully-decorated tea room (in the winter) and the sidewalk cafe (in the summer) made the Old Armouries Tea Room a popular spot to meet downtown. The same expertise was put to good use during program intermissions, where special treats like Dalmatian (chocolate chip) ice cream and Christmas baking were sold.