Abbotsford Police HQ price tag balloons by $16 million

The cost to expand Abbotsford’s police headquarters has risen substantially.

The city opted last year to expand and renovate its cramped police HQ, rather than demolish it and start over. And while that choice remains the cheapest way to consolidate police operations in the city, additional design work has seen the projected cost increase by $17 million to an estimated $76 million.

Council got the news at Monday’s meeting. New requirements like a breathalyzer room and bail hearing room, along with increased building costs, have pushed the price up, according to staff. The city expects that it will pay around $40 million from its reserves, while the rest will likely need to be borrowed.

Click here to see the full 24-page presentation report to council.

The police department has long outgrown its old headquarters, council has previously been told. The department currently now uses six different facilities scattered around the city. It’s hoped the new building would allow the department to consolidate its activities in one larger location. Staff previously warned that the previous $59 million estimate could rise by as much as 20 per cent. A $17 million increase amounts to a 29% cost increase. (While new documents suggests the previous ‘Class D’ estimates came with a 20-30% variation, that upper limit wasn’t included in previous staff reports. Public Services and Procurement Canada say a Class D estimate should vary by no more than 20%.)

The price of the new building could still rise another 10 to 15% according to the newest estimates.