Got an Idea for the Old RCMP Building?
Old RCMP building at Brunswick and 10th – photo 250News
Prince George, B.C. – It’s been two years since the new Prince George detachment of the RCMP moved into their new facility on Victoria, and there is still no word on the future of the old facility on Brunswick Street.
During budget discussions, Councillor Brian Skakun raised the question about what’s to become of the old building.
” I know there have been conversations in the community as having that as some sort of non profit place, where non-profits could set up in the community” said Skakun “We could sell the property, demolish the building, obviously, there’s some value there. If we liquidate it there might be some value there.” So in a nutshell, Skakun wanted to know what will be done with the building and what is it worth to the City.
Although the RCMP have been out of the building for 2 years, that doesn’t mean the building hasn’t been occupied or used since then. It was used as an operations centre during the Canada Winter Games. In fact, the logos identifying it as such are still over the entrances of the building.
Director of Planning and Development, Ian Wells, says the future of the building will be the subject of a special call for proposals “This year, we’re going to put together a proposal call for uses for that building, tender it, and try and make some revenue and see if the non profits are interested in operating it.” Wells is confident the building will have a new tenant “I think there will be some definite interest in that building.”
Comments
turn it into a shelter for the street people, I am sure the new hotel across the street, once it is built, will love the view.
If Skakun is involved in this maybe just sell it, more money for the city that way…and they can do necessary stuff instead of “entertainment stuff”
If the liberals legalizes marijuana in the next few months, then we know they will have a need for a secure distribution processing facility. Something with an indoor secure loading bay would be a top requirement I would think. Even if BC liquor board takes over distribution they will still need a secure facility to operate from in northern BC.
I think the old RCMP building would be the most secure in northern BC for a distribution facility. I don’t think that building will ever operate as an office building again.
I thought it was is horrible shape and needed truck loads of money to fix it? Thats why we built the new police shrine.. so someone is lying somewhere and it cost us tax payers 60 million.. Skakun, do something for a change and get to the bottom of this..
Posted on Monday, December 7, 2015 @ 6:39 AM by P Val with a score of 0
I thought it was is horrible shape and needed truck loads of money to fix it? Thats why we built the new police shrine.. so someone is lying somewhere and it cost us tax payers 60 million.. Skakun, do something for a change and get to the bottom of this..
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I was just thinking the same thing! We were told it’s unfit for the cops, mouldy and falling apart yet it’s okay for a non profit?
There could be a headline here for Skakun! Seems to be the only time he’s of any use.
Truth be told, that building is in rough shape. Leaky roof, old leaky plumbing, mold/mildew etc.. tear it down. It would be better off as just another vacant property waiting to be developed than a liability to the City (and a money pit for tax dollars). I have seen the interior and some of the problems firsthand. If it wasnt so far gone, then a shelter would be a good choice.
Skakun should be more concerned about the embarrasment to our city that is the unfinished Hotel development and the now defunct Days Inn as well.
Yes and in the mean time the utility’s bills have to still be paid for and a caretaker to watch over the place. witch would be more than my income. But what the heck use tax payers have lots of extra money to throw away.
Demolish it plain and simple.
quote “If the liberals legalizes marijuana in the next few months, then we know they will have a need for a secure distribution processing facility. Something with an indoor secure loading bay would be a top requirement I would think. Even if BC liquor board takes over distribution they will still need a secure facility to operate from in northern BC.”
WOW, Eagleone you have drank the ‘reefer’ madness kool-aid are now stunned by its effects.
Alcohol, the most insidious, of all drugs, is warehoused in a normal fashion and is shipped in plain white transport trucks with very little trauma to the public.
When ‘doobies’ are legal it will be a non-event except for the revenue…………………..so think about that, when your old and washed up you may have a chance at a better facility to look after you.
Giving its history maybe Tim Hortons will re-locate
So we agree that the inside of the building is not livable. Now take a look at the picture above. Is anyone reminded of cold war USSR? I would have brought in the wrecking ball the day the last member of the RCMP left the building. Demo should have been factored into the cost of the “new police shrine”. BTW, I admire that building and the fortitude decision makers had to build something better than concrete block barracks.
This lot could then become the parking lot for the new PAC once that new structure takes the place of the Delta. That’s what I heard from a reliable source.
Some forward thinking Grover! The city obviously had no exit plan when the RCMP vacated that cold war ghetto of a building.
I’ve heard that rumor of the PAC being built in that location……..time to unzip some lips.
I am pretty sure the land between city hall and the Keg is the PAC. From what I understood. It was going to be community services. Everyone from Studio 2880 was going to be moved down to this building. Than the city can go ahead and sell the land, where studio 2880 sits.
The building needs a better insulating system, and a good mechanical heating system. Thus structurally, I do believe it is pretty solid. Ugly as sin, but good.
Shouldn’t a future you for the building have been part of the justification for the new Taj Mahal?
Tear it down, build a seniors center and no longer have to worry about paying for the heating and hydro. Plus you get to collect taxes from the new building(s) – after the 10 year exemption is up of course.
New indoor laser tag arena!
If it was built before 1984 . Then it’s full of asbestos .
Any building can be brought up to required standards. It is a function of how much you need to put it in. The problem it could not be used for the RCMP. Was primarily the role of the RCMP has changed since the mid 70’s when the building was built. Thus the functionality of the building was inefficient. Coupled with the huge inefficiency in heating, and the corrective measures required for health and work standards. It was obvious that fixing up this building will still not meet the requirements. Thus they built the new building. In my opinion it should have been five storeys as originally planned. In twenty five years we will be visiting this plan. They should have bit the bullet, rented it out to like business and as the RCMP’s needs increased than start taking over floors. However, councilors are so much smarter.
Funny how certain people are ragging Brian Skakun about this and yet it seems that what to do with the old RCMP building is a real concern. Looks to me like he once again did something useful.
Can’t help but wonder how much my taxes will inflate if the building is demolished. Seems to be what we do best pay,pay,pay!
Most likely our liberals will turn it into a central lock up for registered gun owns
maverick..or harper could use it to hide the missing 3 billion his party forgot to mention as part of the debt he added to the nation.
Actually the building would look a lot better if they steam cleaned it and spruced it up. Furthermore it could be renovated and made useful without to much difficulty.
The idea that it looks like a Russian, or East Germany building is ludicrous.
Seems the City has trouble being consistent in any area. Lets remember that they bought the CN building on 1st Avenue which is similar in design and was built in 1971, and at the same time were saying that they needed to build a new police station that was built in 1986.
So a prime case of left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing.
Perhaps we need to sell the building on 1st Avenue and move the tourist bureau, and city employee’s from 1st Avenue into the Police station. This would be the best utilization of the space and would bring the tourists to the centre of the City, and consolidate (to some degree) city staff.
This building was engineered to have several extra floors added it to it. Know body ever mentions this. I think this building has great potential. So what if it needs new piping, mold etc. That’s a cheap fix, the building itself is solid concrete. What a waste to knock it down. Sell it to somebody that wants to put some bucks into it.
P Val
“maverick..or harper could use it to hide the missing 3 billion his party forgot to mention as part of the debt he added to the nation”.
Peanuts compared to what Trudeau will add. Not to mention by years end we will have our own refugees called “Albertains & Saskatchewan’s” Are you ready to carried that debt load? Careful who’s ass your blowing pot smoke up P Val.
Tear it down along with the empty: Saan/Fields store
Tony Roma’s
Northland Chrysler
old theatre(3rd and ??)
Cdn blood services
Dollar store (victoria st)
Sport Mart
Target
and soon Sears!
and I’m sure a multitude of others.If they haven’t been leased or purchased by another business or service, then raze them.It seems that retailers/developers are more interested in building new places.The strip mall (River place??across from Superstore)now has a 24 hr gym (we have 7 already in town), a party paper products store( $ stores,bulk food place and W’mart) and a mattress store(15 retailers sell mattresses)they, too will be empty within a year or two.
One possible reason buildings stay empty for eternity are the ridiculous lease agreements wanted by landlord’s.This isn’t Vancouver or Kelowna where demand outweighs supply.
maverick..to bad you didnt have that crystal ball of yours out before harper ran for the first time… Then we would have known he would drive us over 160 Billion deeper in debt. In turn he would have never been in office.
Tear it down and have it redeveloped as badly needed market rental housing.
If you want people to shop downtown, start with providing decent rental accommodations downtown.
There’s nothing but cappy old buildings with rental in PG.
People that rent would love to live in something nice; just look at all the newer concrete highrise rental properties in Kelowna, complete with 5 new or newer appliances.
Do something like that here and make it concrete, not wood frame, that way there is better soundproofing.
Wood buildings are terrible when it comes to sound travelling.
Ispy,
the old Target store supposedly has Lowes going in there eventually.
At least that was what the headline once was.
And
I hear rumors that the old Chrysler Center is going to be the new and improved Nissan moving from their old Queensway location..
there definitely is a lot of empty locations in this town.
Isn’t it full of asbestos? Doesn’t that create a liability situation?
Does anyone know what the market value of the building is now? Is it in good enough condition that someone could purchase it and re-purpose it?
Just because it was no longer suitable as a building for a growing RCMP detachment, does not mean that it couldn’t work for another purpose.
What if the city got creative and leased the building and land for $1 per year, if someone was willing to re-locate a head office to the site and bring new jobs with them? Structure the deal so that if the company leaves PG within 5 years, they have to compensate the city X amount of dollars. If they leave within 5-10, the compensation goes down. 10-15 down again, and again at 15-20. If they leave after 20 years, they don’t need to compensate the city anything. I’m just thinking totally outside the box here. Property taxes would still need to be paid of course.
It is a pretty nice location in the downtown core and condos could also be an option IF the market could support it. It’s within walking distance of major employers downtown, shopping, entertainment, etc.
P Val. Your constant referencing to the Harper Governments debt is a paper tiger. A prime case of selective memory. I notice you never make reference to the $185 Billion is debt run up by the Chretien Liberals between 1991-1997. Or the fact that in 2003 Harper actually reduced the debt by some $54 Billion. The Conservative debt was because of the recession, what excuse did the Liberals have??
This time around the Liberals were talking about running up the debt even before they were elected.
I suggest you **get a grip**
The thing that bugs me the most is that the tenant (rcmp) allowed the building to deteriorate to the extant that it is no longer viable to renovate.
So the land holder (city of pg) was either negligent to the tenant in not providing the required maintenance and upgrades, or the tenant failed to perform the basic maintenance responsibilities of the tenancy agreement.
All this with the reward of an over the top police palace equal in cost to a PAC, on main street PG that causes tourist to ask what that beautiful building is.
In addition, the new P. palace is not mobility friendly as one must take stairs (3 sets I have heard) just to reach reception and no elevator to that location.
There is no reason for a bunker style concrete commercial building to not be viable after a mere 25 years. It was designed for longevity, but irresponsibly not maintained by any of the parties involved.
I think someone should be financially liable for this atrocity of public fiscal management. I think it should be the tenant of record for the building, ie RCMP.
I think someone should be financially liable for this atrocity of public fiscal management. I think it should be the tenant of record for the building, i.e. RCMP.
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Wouldn’t the building owner normally be responsible for necessary maintenance and upgrades, the cost of which would be recouped through the tenancy agreement?
Correct me if I am wrong but I think part of the city contract with the RCMP is to provide them a suitable building and as such they would also be responsible for upkeep…..not one of the citys strong suits.
From the financial plans the Aquatic Center, Four Seasons, Library, City Hall, Fire Hall 2, Elkscenter and Coliseum require maintenance described as:
“These replacements were identified in the 2015 Condition Assessment by Tretra Tech EBA as work necessary to ensure the building continues to deliver the current services and reaches its expected service life. The focus of these repairs are on the heating, air handling units , cold and hot water systems and building interior and exterior finishes”
This essential maintenance totals over $8 Million yet is on the unfunded list till 2020. In addition the Four Seasons has an additional $3.2 Million in high priority exterior repairs waiting for funding and Masich Stadium is cap in hand looking for $4.2 million for necessary repairs.
So if you have $15 million or so kicking around Kathleen Soltis would like a word with you.
And one more point. Even with this $15 million in repair costs hanging over our heads there are members of council that want to move forward with a $3 Million entrance to the library.
Pal.. So Harper reduced debt by 54 billion..but he left Canada 160 billion deeper in debt so he really put us 214 billion in debt then. And you still make excuses for him… Oh to be a blind sheep like yourself..the con koolaid must be tastey to you.. So keep on drinking without any thinking ;)
PVal, if the debt is so troubling to you, what’s your boy Trudeau doing to get us out of it? By the sound of what his new Finance Minister was telling the Commons today, we’re all set to add massive new amounts to it. Way, way more than a fiscally challenged drama teacher predicted in his election campaign.
Socred..Harper had 10 years to destroy what we had.. How about you give Trudeau more than a few weeks to fix the mess.
The Liberal promise that the tax cut to middle income Canadians would be revenue neutral, has just gone down the tube. In fact the tax cut will cost an additional $1.5 Billion. That’s a serious error in planning, hopefully not an indication of things to come.
Furthermore the tax decrease to middle income Canadians amounts to approx. $300.00 per year. However when you consider that the Liberals are reducing the Tax Free Savings Account from $10,000.00 to $5000.00 and this will mean than those who would have put money into the account will now lose??? You guessed it approx. $300.00 per year, so no decrease in taxes for them, just some smoke and mirror and voodoo Liberal accounting. Money saved from the TFSA reduction will be used to help pay for the tax reduction.
It also seems that the promise of a $10 billion per year deficit will go out the window and the amount will be much more.
Hang on to your wallet as we have created ourselves a huge problem in Government. Whoda thunk it????
P Val, in the 10 years that you suggest that Harper had to destroy what we had(?), how do you explain the deficit financing that occurred to keep us going during one of the worst recessions that many of us have seen or will ever see?
How do you explain the deficit spending that occurred during the tenure of the Conservative Minority Government, spending that would have occurred obviously with the blessing of the opposition parties during Harper’s minority governments!
How do you explain the deficit spending that was DEMANDED by both the Liberals and the NDP during the Harper minority government’s tenure?
P Val, how can you even begin to compare the situation that was faced by this country during the global meltdown, a meltdown of massive proportions with the situation that exists today?
A pretty boy with nice hair, obsessed with taking selfies with everybody and anybody versus someone who has actually worked for a living, achieved a Masters in post-secondary education and steered our country through the worst economic crisis of many of our lifetimes!
I’d take one Stephen Harper over a thousand Justins! Any day!
As Palopu said above, “hang onto your wallets”!
Can’t trust Justin!
P Val, Justin has been Prime Minister one month! So far, 2.89 Billion in spending commitments!
2.89 BILLION!
…..and not one red cent of it in Canada!
Yup, the next 47 months or so sure aren’t looking good!
I have a great idea for the old building.. Open up so all the cons can go there and share crying towels over losing the election :-)
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