The City of Calgary received the keys to the new Central Library from the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation on Friday and officials say it will serve the needs of Calgarians for years to come.

Crews have completed construction on the $245 million project in East Village and Mayor Naheed Nenshi says it was delivered on time and under budget.

“I am absolutely thrilled about that,” he said. “47 days this will instantly become, in the flick of an eye, it’ll instantly become the critical, vibrant, valuable, accessible, cultural hub for our city.”

Construction on the facility started in 2014 and crews were faced with some challenges as they worked over top of an active LRT track.

"That was probably one of the hardest things for the team to overcome. But once the team overcame that what it allowed them to do is have a really creative architectural piece that was functional but interesting and largely because it’s responding to the LRT line," said Michael Brown, President CMLC. “You have a building that’s intended to meet the needs of the library today, tomorrow and far into the future.”

The facility is over 22,000 square metres, or 240,000 square feet, and is spread out over four floors.

The collection includes over 450,000 books and there is a performance hall and special spaces and programs for adults, children and teens.

“This is a project that thousands of people worked on, most of them Calgarians, and they’re very, very proud of the outcome,” said Brown. “As a worker, designer, this is a once in a lifetime project and the pride that they have, it’s unbelievable.”

A Doors Opening ceremony will be held on November 1st at 10:00 a.m.

“I hope and I know that when I come down and Calgarians come down they’re going to go into a building that’s packed. It’s going to have lots of kids, it’s going to have lots of parents and it’s going to have lots of people. These buildings only work when there’s people in them and I’m really excited for that,” said Brown.

“I can tell you that I am incredibly proud of every, single one of you and proud to stand here and share what we built with Calgarians,” said Nenshi.

For more information on the New Central Library, click HERE.