Greater Sudbury Police are inching closer toward securing new or renewed central headquarters, with the city opening an RFP for the drafting of a police facilities study.
The study is expected to examine short- and long-term needs of police and options, which the tender documents note, “may include interim upgrades and/or construction of a new special purpose police building in consideration of costs and operational efficiency.”
It’s expected to answer a lot of questions, police board chair and Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer said, adding the potential cost and format of future police facilities are currently up in the air.
“We need to know how many square feet we need, what kind of a building we need,” Sizer told Sudbury.com. “For example, horizontal is better than vertical for delivering the police services.”
The current facilities fall short on parking and lack a shooting range and storage facilities for specialized equipment, which he said is “scattered throughout the city.”
“If we can find a way to consolidate all of those, it makes sense,” he added. “And the building is older, so there are repairs that have to be done to the current building.”
Although reports have been done on police facilities in the past, Sizer said the effort slated to take place this year is expected to offer the latest information and analyze current needs within the fast-changing police organization.
The professed need among city police for a new standalone headquarters has been long-established, with Chief Paul Pedersen declaring last year that their existing facility “will not last.”
“We aren't talking about wants, we're talking about needs,” he said at the time. “These are needs that will ensure effective policing so that we can deliver service for our community.”
During last week’s board meeting, member Richard Bois said the new headquarters issue is “one of the most important items that the board will be looking at over the next year or two.”
During the meeting, police CAO Sharon Baiden said the intent is to get a study done in time to factor into 2024 budget deliberations.
Current police facilities were retrofitted through renovations and were not built to meet modern-day service delivery requirements, according to last week’s report.
“The study will include a review of existing facilities, an evaluation of safety and operational aspects of buildings and an evaluation of current and future space requirements to house respective divisions of services.”
Police operate out of three main campuses, including those at 190 Brady St. and 128 Larch St., with a combined square footage of 115,596. These facilities will be reviewed in a final report with a cost-benefit analysis and conceptual design plans and budgets for each proposal.
A needs and space utilization analysis will be delivered by the end of June, according to the city’s tender documents, a final report will be approved by the end of September and a presentation to city council and police services board will be made by the end of the year.
Last year, a report to the police board offered some historical context to their buildings.
The main police headquarters on Brady Street were converted from office space in the 1990s, around which time there was also an unsuccessful push for new headquarters to be built at the intersection of Notre Dame Avenue and Lasalle Boulevard.
In 2016, the police board approved a plan to renovate the existing building at a cost of $18.4 million, which would have been completed in three years and extended its life for another 20 years. City council rejected the plan. In 2017, a new building was estimated to cost $55 million and last approximately 50 years. By 2019, the project was estimated to cost $65 million.
The Greater Sudbury police board has been contributing funds toward financing debt for a police facility since 2018, and are budgeted to contribute $2.15 million toward the effort this year.
The original plan was to gradually increase the annual contribution, but this year’s budget deliberations saw the board opt to cancel a $500,000 contribution increase. They contributed $600,000 in 2018, $900,000 in 2019, $1.4 million in 2020, $1.65 million in 2021 and $2.15 million in 2022. Including 2023, they’ve contributed $8.85 million.
The request for proposal for the police headquarters study closes on March 2. As of Wednesday, there were 15 plan takers.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
