The top cop in Kamloops says a decision about the future of the Battle Street Detachment will need to be made soon, as the facility is operating at twice its intended capacity.
The City’s Build Kamloops Committee was presented with a $77 million option to expand and renovate the existing facility with a seven year lifespan, and a $96 million option that has a 15 year lifespan.
Speaking on NL Mornings, Kamloops RCMP Superintendent Jeff Pelley says there are ongoing conversations with the City over what the future could look like.
“There are a lot of questions that are asked with respect to our operations and what the needs are of the municipality and our officers as well as support staff within the detachment, “Pelley said. “There are a number of variables and its been very progressive with a lot of questions being asked to see what is the actual best fit.”
Pelley said there are about 150 people working out of the Kamloops RCMP headquarters, a facility which was originally designed for 85 people when it opened back in 1990.
“We’re continuing to move ahead,” Pelley said. “We have over the past couple of decades but as time goes on it does become more challenging.”
“We’re engaged with the municipality and the leadership with respect to how we can be effective in moving ahead in short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals with respect to leading to whether its a new detachment or an expansion on our existing detachment.”
Both options presented to the Build Kamloops committee included a six-storey, 40,000 sq. foot tower as well as renovations to the existing RCMP headquarters at the intersection of Battle Street and Sixth Avenue.
When the time comes, city staff say they will be recommending that Council move ahead with the cheaper option.
“[The] 15 year plan represented the maximum capacity that we could see for growth for the RCMP,” Capital Projects Manager Matt Kachel told Radio NL. “The seven year plan avoided some of the RCMP specific renovations such as forensics labs or cellblocks or stuff [that would be located in a new atrium] that would be hard to convert later.”
“The [cheaper] option is more of a flexible option that makes it easier for us to convert to a different civic use down the road.”
At this time, its not clear when this project will move forward as that decision will ultimately be up to City Council.
Build Kamloops Committee Chair Mike O’Reilly says the RCMP building is a “must have” and not something that can be put off. He also suggested that the decision should be made by all of council and not just the five-person committee.
“I worry that we’re not meeting our contractual obligations with the RCMP as required,” O’Reilly said. “As has been mentioned, we’re over double capacity and that’s not slowing down.”
“There’s been a very focused movement by this council to hire more RCMP officers, and for the first time in a long time, we’re getting those. And so that really does concern me.”
Last May, City Council approved spending $4.75 million for detailed design plans to expand the RCMP headquarters. At that time, staff expected the expansion to cost between $50 million and $80 million.
“There are number of proposals that we are considering to find out the best solutions,” Pelley said. “So we will see how we can be a bit more progressive in the future here as we continue to meet and discuss the matter.”
