New library to be built in East Village

City council has decided that Calgary's new central library will be built on a vacant lot in the East Village.

The site, which is directly east of city hall on block 127, was recommended by the Public Library Board.

Aldermen voted Tuesday to earmark $135 million towards the project, in addition to $40 million that had been set aside in 2004. Ald. Andre Chabot was the only council member to vote against the motion.

The new building will replace the W.R. Castell Central Library at Macleod Trail and Sixth Avenue S.E., which was constructed in 1962 and expanded in 1972.

Locating the library in the East Village a neighbourhood the city has spent millions of dollars in a bid to reinvent will "bridge the barrier" between that area and the rest of downtown.

Ald. John Mar said while the East Village site is not his first choice, it will give Calgarians good access to their public library.

The plan is to have shovels in the ground by 2012, to coincide with the Calgary Public Library's 100th anniversary.