New Codiac RCMP building opening pushed to 2023

Initial work at the site of a new multimillion dollar RCMP station in Moncton will start this spring, although the expected opening of the building has been pushed back a number of months, into 2023. 

The station off Albert Street in downtown Moncton will be the new Codiac Regional RCMP headquarters. Codiac RCMP police Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview.

Previous estimates pegged the cost at about $46 million, making it one of the region's largest publicly funded construction projects since the Avenir Centre. 

The price tag has risen and timelines pushed back in recent years. Back in 2018, it was expected to be open by September 2020. As of last June, completion was expected in mid-2022.

Now, construction is expected to wrap up by the end of 2022 with police fully occupying the building in early spring 2023. 

"It would always be nice to have something sooner than later, but at the end of the day, I'm pretty confident with the 2022 timeframe and we'll certainly do everything possible to make that happen," Charles Léger, chair of the policing authority board and a Moncton city councillor, said in an interview. 

Work will start at the site this year with removal of some soil and old foundations. The land had been part of a railway freight yard.

Léger said part of the delay is linked to RCMP screening potential bidders for the construction contract. A tender for construction is expected to be issued in early 2021.

Detailed design work of the two-storey, 6,463-square-metre building is still underway. 

The building will be designed to include efficiency and "green" features to reduce its energy use and operating costs, according to a report presented at last month's policing authority board meeting.

Moncton council awarded architectural and engineering design work to RPL Architects Inc., a company that specializes in designing police stations.

Léger said a more accurate cost estimate for the building is expected once the design work is complete. 

Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview are sharing the cost of building the facility. Dieppe will pay about 18 per cent, Riverview about 12 per cent and Moncton the remainder, similar to the percentages the communities pay for the operations cost of the force. 

The city purchased the 1.92 hectare property south of the CN rail line for $2.45 million in January 2019.

A report prepared by Stantec Consulting Ltd. obtained by CBC News using right-to-information legislation shows the land is contaminated and requires some remediation as part of construction.

The June 2019 report lists arsenic, lead, nickel and/or thallium in surface soil samples across the site. Petroleum hydrocarbons were also found. The report is based on work carried out before and after the purchase.

City council was aware of the contamination before the property was purchased. 

"There probably will be surprises, but based on the pretty thorough analysis, the mitigation piece seems to be very small," Léger told reporters after Moncton council voted to buy the land.

The Stantec report calls for on-site management or removal and disposal of the contaminated soil. 

Léger this week said the site plan accounts for the contaminated soil. 

Allison Enright, an assistant professor of earth sciences at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, said the contamination is typical of what would be expected at an old railway yard.

After reviewing the Stantec report earlier this year, Enright said the cleanup recommendation is "sound and appropriate for the contaminants described."

She said it doesn't appear based on the report that there's a large area contaminated. 

"The cost for this shouldn't be too high," Enright said about the remediation work.