Winnipeg police Public Safety Building officially closes

The doors to Winnipeg's Public Safety Building officially closed on Tuesday morning.

To mark the end of an era, the flag in front of the 50-year-old Princess Street structure was lowered during a ceremony. The Winnipeg Police Museum also showcased pictures of the building over the decades in the front lobby.

Deputy Chief Danny Smyth spent the morning talking with former police officers who spent their careers working in the Public Safety Building and even some who were at the grand opening of the building back in 1966. Tuesday's ceremony brings the 50-year history full circle, he said.

"[The PSB] opened with some fanfare — [as a] state of the art building — and in 50 years, she's looking a little bit weary now," said Smyth.

Police Chief Devon Clunis, who announced in March he's retiring, was joined by other former police chiefs including Jack Ewatski and Keith McCaskill at today's ceremony. Clunis said it's important to honour the history of all members who worked at the old headquarters.

"This building meant so much to so many of us. For many police officers it's their sole career in adult life, so it's important to reflect on that," said Clunis.

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A planned march from the PSB to the new police headquarters for a ribbon cutting to officially mark the building's opening was postponed because of a continuing homicide investigation on Portage Avenue.

• Homicide investigation shuts Portage Avenue in downtown Winnipeg

The Public Safety Building has been vacant since June 22, when the Winnipeg Police Service moved into its new headquarters on Graham Avenue.

Along with city hall, the Public Safety Building is part of an ensemble of modernist buildings built in the 1960s in the Civic Centre neighbourhood. The city plans to demolish the PSB as well as the Civic Centre Parkade, which has been shuttered since 2012 because of structural concerns.

The parkade land will be sold, and the city is entering into consultations to find the best use for the parcel of land that includes the PSB. An 1875 caveat on the land, which was donated to the city, stipulates it must have some form of public use.

Winnipeg city council voted in 2009 to buy the former Canada Post complex on Graham Avenue to house the city's police headquarters.

City officials considered spending millions to refurbish the PSB to house a variety of other city departments but a city-commissioned report said a refurbishment would be cost-prohibitive. Heritage advocates have decried the pending demolition of the brutalist building.

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The new police headquarters project has also been mired in controversy.

Initially council was told the project would cost $135 million, even though an internal city report pegged the purchase and renovation costs at $180 million, or close to the same cost as renovating or expanding the PSB.

The new police headquarters project wound up costing the city $214 million.

The police HQ project also remains the focus of an RCMP fraud-and-forgery investigation that's now 18 months old.

• Inside look at the new over-budget, delayed Winnipeg police HQ