More than $4 million is needed from the City of Edmonton to repair the new northwest police campus, which is facing issues with leaky roofs.
The leaks were discovered in the building last winter and pushed back the opening of the campus. In July, the city said the project would likely be delayed by a year as a result of the issues.
READ MORE: Roof of northwest Edmonton police campus leaking, project likely delayed 1 year
City officials have previously said the ceiling is dropping and there are water spots on the ceiling tiles.
Approximately $104 million has been spent on the project thus far, and the project budget is $107 million. In July, the city had said it would be holding the line on the budget but it seems the current budget won’t cover the costs of additional mechanical and roof-related repairs.
“An additional $4.6 million is required to fund this work, including retaining experts to support efforts to recover the costs of repairs,” reads a report to council.
Police Chief Dale McFee was asked during his coffee with the chief event on Monday if the project’s budget had changed.
“I don’t want to make a statement before it actually goes through council because they’re actually in charge of our facilities but I think all of that stuff runs relevant to… Everybody, all the stakeholders, are trying to get us there as quickly as possible.”
McFee was also asked if an opening date for the new facility had been determined.
“No, we’re still waiting. We’ve got to wait to go through another season here to see where it’s at,” he said. “I know everybody at the city is working hard, the contractor is working hard to get it done, but I don’t think we have a hard date yet.”
On Tuesday, councillors approved the request for an additional $4 million for the facility.
Council was told the plan is to have repairs done by the end of the year and get through the winter. Then the work will be tested out during the freeze-thaw cycle in the spring to confirm the repairs were effective and police won’t have to worry about the quality of the roof while they’re inside.
The 183,000-square-foot facility will house a division station, arrest processing facility, information management and approval centre, recruit training learning centre and vehicle maintenance area.
-with files from Emily Mertz