THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay can’t afford the over $50 million price tag for a proposed new police headquarters, says Trevor Giertuga. The city councillor is pushing the Police Services Board to examine less expensive options.
“I think everyone would want a shiny new building,” the councillor said. “But at the end of the day, it’s not what we want, it’s what we can afford – and also what the constituents are prepared to pay.”
“I don’t think we can afford it at this time, and I don’t think constituents are prepared to put $50 million into a building.”
A report presented to council in March recommended replacing the current Balmoral headquarters with a new building, nearly double the size, at another location. It estimated that option would ultimately be cheaper and more effective than making additions to the existing station.
The current police headquarters on Balmoral Street is nearing end of life and is “insufficient to support current operational requirements,” the report states.
Giertuga finds that hard to swallow.
“We just built this back in 1985, and did phase two [renovations] in 1992,” he said. “We should be projecting our buildings to last a lot longer than 35 years.”
A motion moved by Giertuga asks the police board to go back to the drawing board and consider less expensive options, like neighbourhood satellite offices. It’s an option he believes could present community safety benefits as well as saving money.
“Some of the areas where we might have concerns, high crime areas, we can put a satellite office there so you have police not just driving by, but coming in and out on a daily basis,” he said. “Logically, it’s only going to improve security in the area.”
Giertuga’s motion will be debated at Monday’s council meeting.
In March, several of Giertuga’s colleagues expressed similar concerns. Coun. Aldo Ruberto was heavily critical of the report, saying it should have looked harder at bringing a permanent police presence into the downtowns.
Others were simply hesitant over the project’s price tag. For Giertuga, the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic has only deepened those financial concerns. He expected his motion to find support around the council table.
“This council is always looking to find efficiencies,” he said. “I’m pretty confident council will pass [the motion] and at least explore what the other options look like for our community.”
