Please attribute the statement below to City of South Perth Mayor James Best.

Senator Chris Evans, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, visited the City of South Perth today to announce $2 million in funding for the South Perth Public Library and Civic Halls refurbishment project.

City of South Perth Mayor, James Best accepted the funding: “I am delighted to accept the $2M grant on behalf of the City today.

“The funding will go towards the South Perth Library upgrade and to create a new state of the art multi-purpose community centre where the old civic centre is currently located. This money will enable more green features to be built into the designs and will support jobs during uncertain economic conditions.”

The funding is part of the Government’s $800 million Community Infrastructure Program, the largest one-off investment in local infrastructure in Australia's history.

Construction of the Library and Civic Halls upgrade is expected to begin towards the end of 2009. Works will include resizing the library from 900m2 to 1400m2 and the re-instatement of the hall as a much needed multi purpose community facility, incorporating a range of improved facilities to better meet the needs of the community. It is anticipated that the new facility will be a vibrant community hub with an emphasis on community connections and learning.