Design contract awarded on new police headquarters

Hub Staff

Following a Request for Proposal, Saugeen Shores Council awarded Owen Sound’s G.M. Diemert Architect Inc. a contract as the prime design consultant for the police headquarters project that will see a new police building and parking lot constructed on two acres of land on the north end of the Port Elgin business park, between Concession 10 and Wellington Street.

The Owen Sound architect service, who designed the current police building and municipal office, won the bid after offering the lowest tender amount of $290,000. In all, the Town of Saugeen Shores received four proposals and tasked an evaluation committee to choose. A staff report delivered by Town CAO David Smith read that AECOM Canada Architects Ltd. of Kitchener was the second option, however their tender amount of $423,964 and was not chosen as cost was a factor. Smith said the new police headquarters project remains on track to go to tender for a builder in June, 2018 at a projected cost of $6.8 million, plus or minus 25 percent, with the building open for occupancy some time in the fall of 2019.

Chair of the Police Services Board, Deputy Mayor Luke Charbonneau said that when new Saugeen Shores Police Chief Mike Bellai begins he will be very involved in the planning process. “We’re going to get another assessment of senior police eyes on this project as it goes through the design stage with the architect; so we’re bringing all our resources to bear on this and everyone’s going to have a good look at it and it’s going to be the best product we can produce, with a large number of experts in their field taking a crack at it and making sure it’s a quality project, a product that’s going to serve the community well,” said Charbonneau.

Chief Bellai will be sworn in December 1, 2017.

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