New police station on Grant Avenue officially open

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This article was published 22/11/2013 (4664 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police no longer have to work in Second World War era facilities in the west district of the city.

Mayor Sam Katz, police chief Devon Clunis and other civic dignitaries officially opened the new West District Police Station today.

The station, at 2321 Grant Ave., is 33,000-square-feet and replaces the former St. James and Pembina Highway district stations. The design of the new station is a near-copy of the East District Station on Dugald Road.

“This is a great day for the citizens of Winnipeg as well as the men and women of the WPS,” Katz said.

“For us to be a great city we have to be a safe city,” Clunis said.

“This is a good location – we were looking for something almost in the middle,” he added, saying it will be good for both the public and police.

The West District station was built as a public-private partnership between the city and Shelter Canadian Properties. In 2012, the city awarded Shelter a 30-year contract to build, finance and maintain the station. The original plan was for Shelter to build the station and then lease it back to the city at a cost of $1.17 million a year for the first five years, according to city budget documents.

But this spring, the city decided to borrow $16 million to purchase the building outright. The move was made because of lower-than-expected interest rates and is expected to save the city $9.7 million over the original contract over the next 30 years, according to a report to council at the time.

“Because we’re still in a low interest-rate environment, it’s in the city’s advantage to exercise its right to purchase the station,” said Brad Erickson, property management superintendent for the planning, property and development department. The deal with Shelter allowed the city to buy the building with no penalty, he explained. Before the purchase, the city did not spend a penny on the project, he added.

Public-private partnerships allow private construction companies or consortia to front the cost of roads, bridges or buildings and then lease the infrastructure back to governments. The expectation is governments will spend less money on maintenance over time, as the private-sector construction consortium assumes the risk for cost overruns and other problems. The deals also allow major infrastructure work to begin more quickly.

But when interest rates are low, governments find they can borrow money at a better interest rate than any private company can attain. As a result, the city has scaled back the private component of some of its public-private partnerships.

Mayor Sam Katz said in the spring the purchase of the West District station was a reflection of current interest rates — not the success or failure of the public-private partnership concept.

“This was a unique opportunity,” Katz said at the time, pledging to continue to pursue public-private partnerships.

The new station will be open to the public seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.