Those who grew up in Weyburn, even in recent years, may have fond memories of watching movies in the Allie Griffin. Others may recall book sales, Culture Days celebrations, workshops. All the while, the City's art exhibitions simultaneously graced the surroundings of each and every event in the Allie Griffin Auditorium.

Also known as the Allie Griffin Art Gallery, but being located on the lower level of the Weyburn Public Library, the space has long been a shared one.

This year's Peoples' Choice exhibition was the very last of the art exhibits installed there by the Weyburn Arts Council, however, and the Allie will now be completely dedicated to whatever the Board of Directors of the Weyburn Public Library determines it best serves the community.

Branch Manager Katherine Wagner said the Board has been brainstorming ideas, and nothing is set in stone.

"We're hoping to renovate the space. We're working with the Library board, and we're working with the City to figure out a plan," shared Wagner. "It'll depend on budget as to exactly what we can do, and we haven't figured out our exact goals yet, but we're excited for it."

She shared some of the new ways they'd adapt the space, given the predominance of technology in modern learning, including coding and other STEAM applications.

"We're thinking of a maker space, so that requires proper ventillation and more outlets. There are not very many outlets in that room. We also have an old storage area there, which used to be a projector room but it hadn't been used in that way for a very long time. We'll use it maybe still as storage, but maybe more accessible than it is right now, which is up a flight of stairs," she explained.

"These are all just ideas, nothing is confirmed yet," Wagner noted. "We might try to get some removable walls so that, using it for programming, we would have it available as a big space if we needed it, but we could also do multiple events if we wanted to, as well."

Wagner said while these ideas are all just on the drawing board for now, they have until September to present requests to the City of Weyburn for the 2022 Budget.