City Council supports replacement of Chatham Public Library

At a Special Council Meeting on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025, Miramichi City Council approved a motion to have city staff explore two options for the replacement of the Chatham Public Library.

Those first option includes engaging a consultant to assist the city in preparing specifications for a Request for Proposal (RFP) sent to the two Expression of Interest submitters. These include a developer leasing/purchasing the current library property or renovating another facility privately owned. Those specifications would be presented to Council prior to advertising the RFP to ensure the needs meet expectation. Council would be presented both RFP results, including a recommendation from staff.

The second option includes engaging a consultant to assist the city in preparing speciflcations for a tender to construct a new library at Elm Park. The specifications would be presented to Council prior to advertising the tender to ensure the needs meet expectation.

Watch full meeting here.

The Chatham Public Library was closed in November 2024 due to structural issues. A tender to demolish the building was awarded to Vye’s Construction and Paving for $64,415.38 at the same meeting.

A temporary library was opened at the Chatham Town Centre in January 2025 under a lease agreement.

A survey seeking future use of the Chatham Public Library was conducted over three weeks in late December 2024 and early January 2025. See the results here.