Lacombe Police Service will be getting a new home.
City council approved a site selection committee’s recommendation to mark out space in Michener Park for a new police station.
A new site was needed because the existing station is cramped and sub-standard. It has no access for people with disabilities, is not in a good location to reach major transportation routes and has security issues.
The new station will be a single-storey building with additional work spaces, meeting and training areas, storage, interviewing, exhibit, victims assistance, community consultation and cell space.
Police Chief Steve Murray said the department has been at its current location at 5211 50th Ave. since the 1950s and the 16-member force and five civilian staffers need more room.
“We have adequate space for staff. We don’t have adequate space for storage. We have no meeting rooms or training facilities,” he said, adding parking for officers, staff and the public is also in short supply.
The four cells are also outdated and would not meet modern security requirements, he said. “We need to stay current with the times.”
Now that a site has been chosen, conceptual and preliminary design work will begin and a budget created. Construction is expected to start in 2015. Murray said the size and configuration of the building will be decided upon after consulting with officers, the public and groups that work with police such as victim’s services.
“Police services are becoming more integrated with the community,” he said. But there is no meeting spaces available in the station to meet with local groups.
“(The new station) gives us a chance for a made-in-Lacombe solution in terms of what’s going to be best.”
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com