Plan emerges for security barriers around police HQ

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/12/2016 (3226 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City hall is moving ahead on a plan to install security barriers around the new downtown police headquarters.

The city recently issued a request for proposals for engineering consulting services for the design of a downtown cycling network. Included in the RFP was the design and installation of security bollards around the police HQ.

Security bollards were not included in the project’s final price tag, which climbed to $214 million — $75 million over budget.

The RFP, which closes Jan. 20, said the bollards are needed to protect the building and staff from a terrorist attack.

“The headquarters was not designed or built to withstand large-scale attacks,” states the RFP. “The increased level of global terrorism against government institutions, including emergency services, dictate basic and affordable security measures be considered to ensure essential services are maintained.”

The document states a vehicle could drive over the sidewalk and into the building, and security bollards need to be installed around it.

No cost estimate is provided in the RFP documents for the bollards, but police officials said in September the project could would likely cost $1.7 million.

The HQ and the adjoining commercial tower have proven to be a headache for politicians and administrators. The city purchased the former Canada Post building and warehouse in 2010 for $29 million. The plan was to convert the warehouse into a new home for the Winnipeg Police Service and the officer tower would be sold, expected at a price of $18 to $20 million.

The renovations costs for the warehouse ballooned to $214 million from $139 million.

A two-year-old RCMP investigation has been probing allegations of fraudulent billing.

To compound the situation, the city has been unable to sell the tower. It learned only after the purchase that the tower needed $20 million in renovations. A local development firm has since been awarded an exclusive contract to come up with a redevelopment proposal for the tower.

Concrete Jersey barriers have been installed on the Smith Street side of the building on a temporary basis, but police said in September it was hoped security bollards could be incorporated into streetscaping designs that are part of the downtown cycling network.

In September, Deputy Chief Gord Perrier said the hope was to use tree planters as security barriers.

However, the requirements outlined in the RFP suggest the city has abandoned that approach and will rely on the traditional concrete or steel posts anchored deep into the ground.

The RFP states the security bollards must be installed in four-foot intervals a minimum of three feet from the building. The city requires the bollards to withstand an impact from a 15,000-pound truck travelling at a speed of 80 km/h.

“Large planters that go into the ground are essentially a bollard but would not look like a bollard,” Perrier said.

“There are a number of designs that can be taken into consideration to protect a building that might not be a string of bollards right at the envelope of the building.”

The public works department has a plan for separated bike lanes and street and sidewalk enhancements on Garry Street, from Assiniboine Avenue to the Exchange District, which would run along the east side of the police headquarters.

Perrier said the WPS is talking to other civic departments to see if they have plans for work around the police headquarters that could be incorporated into the police’s security initiative.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca