Not quite Mountie ready

The new Prince George RCMP detachment is starting to look like a building, but there is still plenty of work to do before it becomes a home for the city's police force.

Slated for completion in October, the project, budgeted at $39 million, is at about the two-thirds stage, city facility construction and maintenance manager Greg Anderson said Thursday.

Reaching the "lock up" stage, when the whole building envelope is completed, is nearing.

"You're still seeing some of the insulation, for example, going on on the outside walls," Anderson said. "And the final surfaces, both block and steel sheeting, is still going on."

The first roof membrane is now on and once the insulation is installed, Anderson said the second membrane will be put in place. The building needs to be totally watertight before the dry-walling can start, he added.

Work has either been completed or is close to being finished on the windows, and most of the electrical conduit has been installed as has the internal block work, the steel studs and the heating and ventilation systems.

"It's moving along really well and it's moving along as per schedule," Anderson said. "We're still planning the same completion dates and occupancy dates."

With the removal of an emergency operations centre and underground parking from the plan, a $6-million savings, the building was moved closer to Victoria Street to provide 45 spaces for above ground parking in behind, complete with security gating and fencing.

However, that won't be enough to meet all of the detachment's needs and the city has purchased space in the parking lot kitty corner to the station and next to the old Odeon movie theatre.

Also, diagonal parking for both the public and the RCMP fleet will be introduced along Fifth Avenue alongside the detachment.

"Currently, it's four lane with parking on both sides," Anderson said. "We're going to be changing that to two lane while still having parking on both sides because Fifth Avenue, the way the city is set up, just doesn't have the traffic flow that requires four-lane traffic."

Although there will be gates onto Fourth Avenue, the main access to the secure area will likely be off Vancouver Street, so RCMP members can turn left or right, "whereas if you come out onto Fourth Avenue right now, the only option is a right turn towards a controlled intersection."

The building holds several energy saving features and the aim is to achieve the gold standard for leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) although the level achieved won't be known for a couple years after the project has been completed.

"There are lots of implications for that, that we're working through each month when we have our project meetings," Anderson said.