Kamloops council will review $150M RCMP detachment proposal

Kamloops City Council will be asked to authorize the borrowing of $150.7 million to fund the validation, detailed design and construction of a new RCMP detachment on Battle Street.

A staff report says the current property has surpassed both the functional capacity and spatial needs of the city’s police force.

The proposal is to build a new five-storey, 120,700 square foot building, immediately west of the current detachment.

“Operations at the existing detachment will remain in full effect until the completion of the new addition’s construction,” says the 125-page staff report headed to council on Nov. 14.

“At this point, RCMP equipment and staff will be relocated into the new addition, and the existing detachment will be demolished.”

The report says once equipment and staff are transferred into the new building, a “specialized” two-storey parking structure would be built at the site of the current building.

According to the staffing report, the new building is expected to serve the Kamloops RCMP for 30 years.

Staff say the new building will include multiple functions including prisoner intake, cells, exhibits, fleet maintenance, crime prevention, forensics, investigative services information, records, traffic, fitness, training and management.

The report says, to date, city council has approved $4.75 million to fund the development of preliminary designs for Concepts 1 and 2 and the recommended Concept 3, which is being presented next week.

Staff say the new detachment will have a targeted maximum value of approximately $148.2 million, including $28.5 million in allowances for escalation and construction risk.

In addition to construction funding, staff say the city would "carry a $1.8 million reserve for internal costs.

“The project team has accounted for labour increases in the integrated project delivery contract, but potential escalation costs for materials will be handled separately through the escalation reserve,” the report says.

“Given the unprecedented cost of inflation, supply chain issues, and global uncertainties related to materials, staff believe this approach is best to mitigate risks the City may face in the future.”

The staff report says the current building, which was built in 1990, is about 40,000 square feet and was meant to house 75-85 occupants.

However, it is now housing around 150 employees.

The staff report says detailed design is expected to begin this year with the early stages of construction beginning in 2026. It is expected the building would be move-in ready by 2029 and the new parkade would be completed by 2030.

“​​Construction of this project will be taking place concurrently with the Kamloops Centre for the Arts site approximately 350m away,” the report says.

“Efforts will be made to minimize disruptions to the downtown core while these two large construction projects are taking place in close proximity to one another.”

That includes increasing downtown on-street parking capacity, using satellite parking for construction workers and the development of “strategic traffic plans.”

Kamloops City Council will review the report on Tuesday.