Delayed library on track for summer opening

A supermarket opened some time ago but the library faced numerous problems

A new Nottingham library which was plagued by faults should open this summer, officials have said.

The Sherwood library in Spondon Street was delayed beyond a planned summer opening in 2024 following the discovery of more than 130 defects.

Problems included issues with the living wall, fire safety systems and a leak in the building's atrium.

The city council said with major repairs completed, contractors could now come and install internal fittings.

Contractor collapse

The old library was condemned seven years ago, but plans for a replacement were not finalised until 2020.

The Labour-run council sold the site to local developer Hockley Developments, with an agreement the library would be built at no capital cost to the authority and that a 125-year lease would be agreed at a nominal rent, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service .

A small supermarket has opened in ground floor commercial space, but work on the library was hampered when a contractor, Dako Construction, went into administration.

A new contractor was found and the library building was handed back to the council at the end of 2023 for the final fit-out, but a planned summer opening was then put on hold when the defects were discovered.

'Never-ending Story'

At a full council meeting on Monday, Sam Lux, the council's executive member for leisure and culture, said: "I am pleased to say the building snags that have been delaying the project so far have now been resolved, including most recently the repair of the fire alarm panel which of course was critical for us to be able to move forward.

"We are finally in a position where we are able to schedule contractors and tradespeople to come in and do the fit-out works.

"It is not going to happen overnight but we are confident Sherwood Library is going to open this year in the summer."

Libraries campaigner Des Conway said: "We were originally promised this library in spring 2024 by previous executive member Cllr Pavlos Kotsonis and then autumn 2024 by Cllr Sam Lux.

"And remember the Nottingham Libraries website maintained right up until early December last year that Sherwood Library would open later in 2024. That statement was then removed a few weeks before Christmas, when the new date of 'summer 2025' was published.

"This work of fiction has become 'The Never-ending Story', and our library books are now well overdue."