Kamloops city council asked to approve bylaw paving way for new $150M RCMP detachment

Photo: Contributed

The current RCMP detachment at 560 Battle Street was built 35 years ago to house 85 Mounties. Today, it serves as home base for more than 150 officers.

Kamloops city council is being asked to allow staff to draft a bylaw that could allow the municipality borrow more than $150 million to build a brand new Battle Street detachment for Kamloops Mounties — and ground could break on the project as soon as next year.

Replacing the detachment has been on the city's radar for years, and the plan going to council on Tuesday would see the facility’s shelf life extended by 30 years, according to a city staff report.

Council will be asked Tuesday to have administration prepare a borrowing bylaw for up to $150.7 million to fund the renovation and expansion project, and authorize spending another $100,000 in gaming funds on procurement work.

According to the report, the plan would see Mounties moved in to their new digs in 2029, with a new police parkade completed on the site the following year. During construction, officers would continue working out of the existing building at 560 Battle St. while a new one is constructed immediately next door — a five-storey tower boasting 120,700 square feet of space.

“Operations at the existing detachment will remain in full effect until the completion of the new addition’s construction,” the report stated.

Once that new building is ready, RCMP equipment and staff would move next door and the existing detachment will be demolished, to be replaced by a two-storey parkade to accommodate RCMP vehicles.

“The new addition has been tailored to suit the operational needs of policing in Kamloops for 30 years. The current and future needs of multiple functions have been incorporated, including, but not limited to, prisoner intake, cells, exhibits, fleet maintenance, crime prevention, forensics, investigative services, information, records, traffic, fitness, training and management,” the municipal report states.

Green initiatives would also be part of the project, including developing a geothermal field beneath the new parking structure to offset operational costs and greenhouse gas emissions, the report states.

More space needed

The current detachment was built in 1990 for an 85-officer police force. There are currently 158 Mounties working out of the building.

The report said the current property has surpassed both the functional capacity and the spatial needs of a modern police force and will be more constraining as the city and RCMP staffing needs continue to grow.

The report said the new three-decade lifespan was calculated with help from a team of architects, engineers and consultants.

“Through the detailed analysis of the current site and RCMP growth projections, the proposed renovations will allow the Battle Street detachment to function under its carrying capacity until approximately 2058 — 30 years after its construction,” the report stated.

“Based on occupancy requirements, this will take the space available within the facility from 43,000 square feet to 120,700 square feet — an increase of about 280 per cent.”

Taxes would rise over five years

According to the city report, the borrowing is projected to raise property taxes by nearly six per cent over five years — 0.99 per cent in 2025, 2.12 per cent in 2026, 1.53 per cent in 2027, 0.44 per cent in 2028 and 0.37 per cent in 2029, based on this year’s overall taxation level.

The expected spend over the the project's timeline is expected to be about $1.4 million in 2025 for detailed designs, $24.1 million for site works, serving and foundation work in 2026. That would be followed by building construction in 2027 to the tune of $57.3 million, another $43.2 million for building systems, finishes and equipment in 2028 and $13.1 million in move-in, demolition and parkade construction costs in 2029. Completion of the parkade in 2030 would cost about $11.3 million, according to the city’s report.

Adding this project on top of the city’s current debt, including the recently approved Build Kamloops initiates of a new performing arts centre and arena multiplex for $275 million, would see the civic debt peak at $400 million in 2031. The level would drop over the next 10 years after that as existing debt is paid off.

The report also said the city would need to determine whether it will seek public approval via a referendum or alternate approval process.

The RCMP detachment project was initially part of the city's Build Kamloops plan unveiled in May of 2023, but in October of that year a city council committee opted to separate the project, recognizing it as a critical infrastructure need on its own.

The city held an alternative approval process last summer to pass its Build Kamloops borrowing plan.

Design work could begin as early as spring

If council approves the proposed funding, there would be a period of time required to seek public approval. The city report states if approval is achieved, the project’s design work would begin as early as the second quarter of 2025.

“A prolonged approval period will increase the risk of overall cost escalation for the project,” the report said.

In anticipation of parking constraints while the new detachment is being built, the city would develop back-in angle parking along the 500 and 600 blocks of Battle Street for displaced police parking prior to construction, returning to resident parking once the project is complete.

Renovation work could coincide with the start of construction on the new performing arts centre less than 400 metres away, but the report said the city would make efforts to minimize disruptions to the downtown core.

Possibilities include increasing on-street parking capacity, using satellite parking for construction workers and the development of strategic traffic plans for the construction period, the report stated.

The city said work will be done in phases to limit as much disruption to RCMP operations as possible, with alternating phases of demolition and construction.

The new building is planned to be built in a single phase over four years between 2026 and 2029.

A long-sought project

The city previously considered two other detachment renovation options — major renovations to the Battle Street building that would have accommodated another 15 years of potential growth, or minor renovations that would cover seven more years, at which point the detachment would be converted into a new city hall.

Both the RCMP and city administration felt those options did not satisfy long-term needs, and they developed the concept presently being considered.

To date, council has approved $4.75 million to fund the development of preliminary designs for all three concept designs.

The COVID-19 pandemic scuttled plans in 2020 for an RCMP detachment expansion business case, which was eventually completed in 2022.

The current detachment was built when the city’s population was just 67,000, whereas today police are responsible for a community of about 100,000 residents.

The building was only expected to provide the necessary support for policing operations for 10 years, the report stated.

In 2013, council approved acquiring and renovating the former Kamloops Kia building to become the North Shore Community Policing Office, which helped alleviate space constraints for Mounties downtown, but it was never intended to serve as a second detachment, the report stated.

Photo: City of Kamloops

The City of Kamloops' projected debt balance if it adds the $150 million RCMP detachment renovation to its list of projects.