The idea of turning Edmonton’s old Remand Centre into a community wellness centre was further discussed at Thursday’s Edmonton Police Commission meeting.
While other sites are options, the space the remand offers is appealing.
“The remand site is the preferred option because it offers 200,000 square feet, there’s no moratorium on social housing… has the support of the local community league,” Boyle Street executive director Julian Daly said. “Also, it reuses a government building that’s laying idle and costing taxpayers money every year.”
READ MORE: Old Edmonton Remand Centre eyed as possible site for new inner city wellness centre
Since the old site became vacant, Boyle Street Community Services has been looking into its potential as an inner city wellness centre. Daly even visited Vancouver, where that city’s remand centre was converted into affordable housing units.
The idea of the new proposal — called the Community Centre at Boyle Street — is to consolidate various support services like addictions and mental health while offering a 24-7 drop-in with shower and laundry facilities. It would also include housing for up to 100 people.
“It has a lot of the things that I think we as a police service have advocated for probably the last five years,” Edmonton police chief Rod Knecht said.
“I was impressed with the proposal and I think it has a lot of good things for community safety and particularly deal with Edmonton’s most vulnerable community.
“Those kinds of conversations will resonate with the community,” Knecht added. “We’re not sort of creating more shelters — we’re actually consolidating shelters and wrap-around services. And with those wrap-around services, you’re not cycling people through.”
The cost to renovate the centre is believed to be around $93 million. Senior levels of government are being asked to contribute $70 million.
The business case is now in the hands of the province.
Daly presented Boyle Street’s project for an integrated and collaborative service delivery model to repurpose the centre at Thursday’s meeting.
Since receiving a grant from the Alberta government to make the business case, Boyle Street has consulted with over 600 individuals and organizations.
“The idea would be not just to provide opportunities for social enterprises in the heart of our city and housing for families but to also generate income that could then continue to support the services on the other site,” Daly said.
The project would be a partnership of 16 agencies.
“We’re envisioning having primary health care services there, mental health services, addiction services, delivered by government of Alberta but also non-profits.”
In May, concerns were raised about the concentration of services in the inner city.
At that time, Daly said there would likely be continued consultation with the community.
“We hope that this will be a centre that all local people can access and not just our traditional demographic,” he said.
Thursday’s presentation included a commitment “to transparency, communication and dialogue with residents, businesses and the broader community.”
A statement from the Ministry of Social Services reads in part: “This was a specific, purpose-built facility that will be challenging to convert, which is why we are exploring a variety of options and associated cost estimates for its future use. Any future decision must consider the best value for Albertans.”
Operating costs for the old remand centre were estimated to be $1.3 million per year.
The old remand is located at 97 Street and 103 A Avenue.