With a growing police force and a strong need for additional space to accommodate staff and detainees, Timmins Police Services is on schedule for the construction of its new $10 million home.
“This building we’re in now was designed for 35 officers, and it was too small even when it was first inhabited years ago,” says Chief Richard Laperriere.
“We now have 84 officers, not including additional staff for our 911 station and so on. This space shortage had to be addressed at some point in time, so here we are.”
The 37,000-square-foot building, designed by J. L. Richards & Associates Ltd. is currently under construction by Timmins-based Cy Rheault Construction, and is slated to be completed and ready for use by the end of July.
With the new facility comes a new approach to incorporating public services, which has become much more intertwined with police services, Laperriere says.
“This has to be a community building, because we do provide a service to the community,” he says.
“In fact, our local partnerships make us a part of the community, who should in turn be a part of this facility, and they certainly will be.”
As a result of this stronger community focus, new space will be included for the police services’ community partners, such as the Timmins Community Safety Committee, Victim Crisis Assistance & Referral Service (VCARS) and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.).
A special community-accessible boardroom will also be available on the facility’s second floor.
Because the building will cater to three very different groups; the community, the police staff, and the detainees, its design incorporates three different styles.
“There’s quite a distinction between the three users,” says Georges Quirion, branch manager, J. L. Richards. “As much as you have to have security features to make sure this is a secure place, you also have to make this a community building, so we can’t have this building looking like a fortress.”
The public-focused areas, located to the front of the building, will feature the use of wood, warm colours, as well as natural lighting and high ceilings.
This contrasts with the security needs of police staff, who will be able to use programmable access cards, instead of keys as they move further into the building.
The facility’s 911 communications centre, which connects the public with police, fire and ambulance services throughout Timmins, Iroquois Falls and throughout the Highway 11 corridor, will act as a near-stand-alone component. With its own heating and cooling systems as well as a backup generator, the centre represents the most sophisticated area of the building, Quirion says.
The detainee area, however, will be much more traditional, with standard concrete walls and epoxy-coated floors. It will also be located away from the main entrance so that victims of crime will not be forced to pass by their aggressors.
This design is being complemented with features that make the building “post-disaster ready,” Quirion says. With stronger steel and additional cross-bracing, the facility will be 25 per cent stronger than the current one, with floors that will be able to support 25 per cent greater loads. This will render it resistant to the likes of earthquakes and hurricane-style winds.
“It’s going to be a sturdier, heavy-duty version of a commercial facility. This is also important when you consider that the building is going to be occupied 24-hours a day, so it’s going to see three times the abuse.”
These considerations for the city’s future are also involved in the building’s potential for expansion. It has been designed so that the roof can be removed to add more walls and create up to 3,000 more square feet of space, if necessary.
“This is not just about meeting the city’s current needs, but tending to its future as well, and we think this will accomplish the task rather nicely.”
