The City of Edmonton said it expects the Edmonton Police Service’s northwest campus to open later this year, after issues with the roof led to delays with the project.
The city said Friday that it is still working with contractors on the building, after the issues were discovered last year.
Last July, the city revealed it discovered the problems during a standard inspection of the building as crews neared the end of construction.
At the time, officials said the roof was leaking in more than 10 places and that EPS staff would not be able to move into the building because the ceiling was dropping and there were water spots on the ceiling tiles.
Also in July, the city said the EPS campus project was on budget — pegged at $107 million — but that the timeline for opening would be pushed back one year to March 2020 due to the problems with the roof.
The campus was originally scheduled to open in March 2019.
In December, the city launched an $8-million claim against dozens of parties involved in the project.
Documents indicate the city was notified on Dec. 14, 2017 that water was entering through the roof. The lawsuit claims that water created mould, causing damage to the project and its contents. The suit also alleges construction defects and deficiencies resulted in water and moisture accumulating in the HVAC system.
The city claims they were informed the project was ready for its intended use on Nov. 30, 2018.
None of the allegations has been tested in court.
City claim re: Northwest Edmonton police campus by Emily Mertz on Scribd
Last October, a city report stated an additional $4.6 million was needed from the City of Edmonton to repair the northwest police campus.
City councillors approved the additional funding and were told the plan was to have repairs done by the end of the year. The repairs would then be tested through the spring’s freeze-thaw cycles to confirm if they were effective.
In the update Friday, the city said it is now targetting an opening date of mid-2020, but would not specify an exact date.
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.
The campus is built to house approximately 250 staff members and provide training space for all EPS staff and up to 70 detainee cells.
Work on the northwest EPS campus started in the summer of 2016.