(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

City staff are expecting a bolstered RCMP detachment needed in the city will cost between $77 and $96 million.

Last May, council approved spending nearly $5 million for detailed design plans to expand the building at the corner of Battle Street and 6 Avenue. Staff expected construction and design would cost between $50 and $80 million at the time.

When the Kamloops RCMP detachment was built, it was expected to be filled within 10 years. More than 30 years later, the bill is coming due.

While the new report didn't include a detailed design of the building, it did provide council with two options it might consider in the future. One of them could pave the way for a new city hall.

At $77 million, the cheaper option will only serve police for seven years before they outgrow it. Both versions would include a six-storey tower, but the design is simplified, also leading to a shorter construction timeline, according to the staff report.

An artist's rendering of the proposed Kamloops RCMP detachment expansion.

Image Credit: CITY OF KAMLOOPS

The cheaper option would be completed a year earlier, removing a new cell block and some specialized offices for policing. This route, according to the report, leaves the option to repurpose the property for the city's development and engineering department, along with administration as both buildings are at their capacity.

Once outgrown, Kamloops RCMP would begin moving to a new location within six years, according to the report.

Staff will be recommending the cheaper option once council comes to consider if it will dedicate tax dollars to a new detachment, but the $96 million option will give ample space for policing more than twice the time.

In this case, the Battle Street location would stay in use until it's completely outgrown in 15 years, but it would be more difficult to repurpose.

Neither option would include a multi-level parkade as RCMP have "special requirements" for access to detachment parking lots.

Instead both include a change to parts of Battle and St. Paul streets if approved, which would see angle parking added to one side of three city blocks to make up for the future density in the area.

The projected cost for both options includes the $4.75 million design, $5.5 million for street parking changes and a contingency of between $3 and $4 million for potential cost overruns.  

The report will go to a council committee on Oct. 24, but it's not set to make any decisions on what to do with the proposal yet.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2023