What does it sound like when council flushes $2 million down the toilet? St. Albertans could hear for themselves this fall if four city councillors get their wish and pilfer millions to once again house the RCMP in an outdated, eyesore of a building with a future as tenuous as the amount of thought put into its short-term preservation.
Faced with a space crunch at the RCMP headquarters on Bellerose Drive and possessing a spare, mostly empty building formerly used for that purpose, councillors agreed to explore the possibility of renovations next year. The $2-million cost to refurbish the three-decades-old Hemingway Centre on Sir Winston Churchill Avenue will be added to the 2012-14 capital budget and will be up for formal debate this fall. It’s our hope that the four councillors in favour of the plan — Roger Lemieux, Cam MacKay, Wes Brodhead and Malcolm Parker — will use that time to put a little more thought into the long-term future of the site before foisting such a wasteful sum on taxpayers.
On the surface the idea seems reasonable. The RCMP does need more space and the building’s history makes it an obvious fit. What’s more, the Hemingway Centre has sat largely vacant for a decade, a waste of valuable real estate in the minds of many taxpayers and voters. Housing the RCMP in the short-term and city staff in the long-term would solve two ongoing space shortages.
In practice, such a move seriously complicates bigger picture considerations, including future strategies for city-owned land in the downtown. As it is, the entire area is a question mark with the downtown area redevelopment plan (DARP) still in play. Early concepts show the former RCMP building as part of a row of mixed-use residential. It’s one of several key city-owned parcels that could be leveraged for long-term capital projects like city offices, a new library, downtown parkade or even selling the land outright. It’s the type of strategic thinking council hasn’t given much thought to and likely won’t until it sees a DARP implementation plan. But there’s no denying the area has remarkable potential for redevelopment given its location and inviting vistas for new condominiums overlooking the Sturgeon River.
Spending $2 million on the Hemingway Centre not only erases that potential, it also goes against the advice presented to the previous council — on which Lemieux served — on the long-term future of the structure. A 2008 report recommended spending $140,000 in the short-term to make the building habitable for not-for-profit groups. Long-range, administration saw more value demolishing the structure to make it more attractive for resale than keeping it as is. Council approved the first part, but has yet to consider the bigger picture.
The former RCMP HQ has little going for it other than name recognition value — it was designed by notable architect Peter Hemingway — but that alone is no reason to keep it. It’s a squalid, one-storey concrete bunker that even if renovated would house just 40 employees, or $50,000 per workstation. The RCMP moving would also complicate an already dysfunctional downtown parking situation since the Hemingway Centre parking lot is mostly utilized by city staff who would have to find spaces somewhere else. That’s easier said than done, as anyone who’s tried to visit the area for a coffee, medical appointment or window-shopping can attest.
Taxpayers have already paid to make it suitable for limited office use, be it not-for-profits or city staffers, and that’s exactly how it should be used for the rest of its lifespan. Leasing space for the RCMP in the short-term is an acceptable course of action until council rolls up its sleeves and makes some bigger picture strategic decisions that benefit the entire organization. Spending $2 million on a site with so many shortcomings isn’t just shortsighted, it’s asking too much of taxpayers.
