Construction workers are hard at work and are on time with the expansion of the city’s Police Headquarters.
Lethbridge Police Headquarters has been under construction since the spring of 2014 as the building is getting revamped.
They have recently opened the front lobby area, occupied the underground parking garage and are currently within a month of occupying two levels of the three-story addition.
Some of the other upgrades will include additional office space, along with new cells and new classrooms.
According to Project Manager, Ric Johnston, a significant obstacle in the initial planning process was how to undertake a project of this scale in a building which was required to be occupied, and functioning 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“It was determined some departments would need to be relocated to other sites to vacate space and allow flexibility in moving the remaining staff on site as work progressed. All (of this was needed) while maintaining an uninterrupted high level of service which the Lethbridge Police provide to our community,” said Johnston.
It’s the first time since 1996 that the building has had significant upgrades and Tom Ascroft, Inspector for the Lethbridge Police Service, says the renovations are imperative going forward.
“We were running out of space. A lot of speciality units were coming in that needed more space along with some of the technical parts of the building. Also, the security features were getting antiquated so it was time for a refit.”
Johnston claims the expansion is necessary not only to address the lack of space, but also to accommodate future growth.
“As the City grows, so do the requirements of law enforcement. We are now looking forward to the next 20 years, with the intention of accommodating the increase of personnel and services that will evolve over that period of time,” he said.
Marty Thomsen, Lethbridge College’s Dean of Justice and Human Services, believes the project could possibly benefit students enrolled in the Criminal Justice program.
“Anytime you have a Police Service that grows and expands, you’re going to get more specialized services. Services such as cyber crime and simulation units could possibly increase the amount of jobs available to Justice students coming out of college,” he said.
The cost of the project is just under $28 million. According to Ascroft, there were a few complications with the budget at the beginning of the project but it has since been adjusted.
“It cost more than initially planned but the budget was adjusted before construction started so right now we are on budget and on time,” he said.
The project is expected to be complete by January of 2017.
