Public Safety Building study would cost $275K

The City of Winnipeg is looking at spending $275,000 to figure out what to do with the Public Safety Building and the crumbling parkade next door.

The 50-year-old building will become vacant once the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) abandons it for a new headquarters at266 Graham Ave.the former home of Canada Post's sorting plant.

The WPSwill begin moving to the new site in the fall. It is expected to take about six months to completely shift everything over.

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• Winnipeg closes parkade due to structural concerns

The city has been considering a couple of options for the Public Safety Building,including renovating the spaceto relocate other city servicesor have itdemolished to make way for more space.

City administration had requested the funding to study all the available options for theTyndall-stone-clad building, which was constructed in 1965 at the corner of Princess Street and William Avenue.

The building sits across from city hall and is adjacent to thecivicparkade, which has been closed since August 2012 due to structural concerns.

Thecity's Standing Policy Committee on Downtown Development approved the $275,000funding request for a study on Monday, but a final decision on the spendingmust still be made by city council.

Lots of potential

The study wouldallow city planners to decide what's best for the aging structure,saidCouns. Mike Pagtakhan and JennyGerbasi, whoadded thatafull report would enable city councillors to make an informed opinion about the PSB's future.

Pagtakhan, who heads up the committee, said there is a lot of potential for the one-block site.

"I think there's some merit to a city hall campus, having our city staff close by There's also some merit to having a green space there, looking out, as well as to have some residential development and some mixed use with some commercial as well," he said.

Pagtakhan said he would like to see thePublic Safety Building preservedbecause he likes the building's design.

"If it could be saved, that would be ideal because I'm sort of a bit of an architecture buff and I like the architecture on that," he said. "However, it is kind of falling apart."

The estimated cost to renovate the building is $40 million, whichincludes the cost of demolishing theparkade.

Selling the land outright is not an option because the city purchased the land for $600 back in the early 1900swith the condition the land be used for civic purposes only.

"That deed basically indicated that the property was sold to the city at a very nominal cost, about $600, on the condition that the property only be used for civic purpose," said city planner Barry Thorgrimson.