City council is looking to spend $2 million to upgrade the former police headquarters downtown to alleviate a space crunch at the RCMP detachment on Boudreau Road.
The RCMP have outgrown their building and is looking to establish a satellite office to house some of its operations. Police and city administrators wanted to lease or purchase office space in Campbell Business Park but council chose to pursue the renovation of the Hemingway Centre instead.
Coun. Roger Lemieux moved the idea because he felt it would solve the RCMP’s short-term space needs while also providing a needed upgrade to a city building that’s been underused since the police moved out 10 years ago.
The renovation will take place in 2012 and provide enough space for three to five years after police take possession.
“By then we will have had a chance … to work out a business case for the requirements of the RCMP long-term,” Lemieux said.
When the police outgrow the Hemingway, the city will have a renovated building that could be home to some city departments feeling squeezed by cramped conditions at city hall, Lemieux said.
The aging Hemingway Centre has been used by various volunteer and community groups since it was vacated by police. Based on feedback he’s received from these groups, Mayor Nolan Crouse feels the building is fine as it is.
“It’s office space today and it could be office space tomorrow,” Crouse said. “For us to spend $2 million on it for an RCMP detachment to me is not a good use of money.”
Council was divided on the issue, with one faction believing the Hemingway could be a valuable city asset once it’s modernized. Others didn’t want to put money into the aging building, which contains asbestos that would need to be completely removed for any interior reconfiguration to take place.
Couns. Cathy Heron and Len Bracko agreed with Crouse.
Heron noted the completed renovation could be two years away while the police need more space now.
However, three others — Malcolm Parker, Cam MacKay and Wes Brodhead — agreed with Lemieux that the Hemingway renovation could serve the police’s short-term needs and provide the city with a valuable long-term asset.
“Here we have an opportunity to make a current city building viable in the long-term [and] it meets an immediate need,” said Brodhead.
Sitting as the standing committee on finance, councillors voted 4-3 in favour of adding the project to the 2012 capital plan. That decision will be up for final approval at next week’s council meeting.
The RCMP will look at renovating the current detachment to accommodate staff growth that’s expected during the roughly two years until the Hemingway is ready, said Insp. Warren Dosko.
The current detachment is home to about 105 workers even though it was designed for about 76. Dosko anticipates adding eight more people this year and possibly the same next year, while moving about 25 to the Hemingway when it’s ready. The net impact will only be a reduction of nine people from the current detachment.
“That doesn’t gain us a lot,” Dosko said. “That’s why we’ve said, long term, it’s not a great solution for us.”
