The new-look Guelph Police Headquarters on Wyndham Street is taking shape.
The $34-million renovation, which will more than double the size of the building to 154,000 square feet, isn't expected to be finished until the fall, but the new front office is now operational (now facing Wyndham Street, not Fountain) and other areas are coming along.
In addition to more space, the renovations completely modernized the operational side of the building and corrected some functional deficiencies, such as putting interview rooms beside the cell block rather than on a different floor of the building.
There will be 26 cells in the new building.
"Seventy per cent of the time we have somebody in custody for some period of time," said Deputy Police Chief Paul Martin, who has been overseeing the renovations from the police end.
Despite the delay, the project is still on budget.
Renovations were initially scheduled to be completed this spring. But there were a number of issues that led to delays and it is now expected to be this fall before things are finished.
Those issues included more significant issues such as more extensive bedrock below ground than geological surveys identified and weather to smaller, but time-delaying events such as the discovery of gas lines beneath the building that weren't identified on schematics and shipments of windows showing up broken.
While these events pushed back the timeline, they haven't extended the budget.
"We're still on budget," said Martin.
"With any well-planned budget you develop a budget with contingencies in it that allow you to stay on budget," said Peter Ortved, the architect who designed the renovations.
The project involved completely renovating the existing building while adding two new wings to house the over-300 civilians and officers who work for Guelph Police.
A brand new west wing will is four storeys high with indoor parking on the two lower levels for the police fleet, office space on the third floor and an empty fourth floor that will be used for future growth.
"It's a lot cheaper to build that space now than to try and add it in the future," said Martin, adding that it's a matter of when, not if, the extra space will be needed.
A new east wing includes the new main entrance/office and community room. It also has a "safe" feature that will allow citizens to temporarily lock themselves between the two main entrance doors and hit an emergency button if they feel they are in an unsafe situation and the front office is not open to the public at the time.
An example might be early in the morning and someone is being followed out of downtown, Martin said.
The three-plus years of renovations being done while the building is in full use has posed some issues, such as temperature and dust, but Martin said the staff have been understanding.
"It's been a challenge, no question," Martin said. "Anyone who has ever renovated a house while living in it can relate."
