Moncton buys land for new RCMP station

The new Codiac Regional RCMP station will be built on vacant land at the western edge of downtown Moncton. 

Moncton city council voted unanimously Monday to spend $2.45 million to buy a 1.92 hectare property between the CN rail line, Vaughan Harvey Boulevard and Albert Street.

Codiac RCMP police Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview. The new building will house the force's civilian staff, dispatchers, commissionaires and 139 Mounties.

The new detachment has been subject of years of discussion and planning by the city and Codiac Regional Policing Authority, a civilian board that oversees the force.

"It's great news," said Supt. Tom Critchlow, Codiac's commanding officer. "Obviously we've been waiting a while for this announcement and I believe it's the best location."

It's not clear how the cost of the land will affect the project's overall price. 

In 2017, the building was expected to be open in September 2020 with its cost estimated from $35 million to $45 million. More recent estimates for the building, now expected to open in spring 2022, range from $40 to $50 million.

Charles Leger, chair of the Codiac Regional Policing Authority, said the cost of the facility will be split among the three communities.

Dieppe will pay 18 per cent, Riverview 12 per cent and Moncton the remainder, the same percentages the communities pay for operation cost of the force. 

Leger didn't say how the land choice would affect project's overall budget. 

"They were estimates on not really knowing what you're going to build on, what type of property you're going to build it on," Leger said, adding he expects more specific details to come out in the next six to eight months. 

The city bought the land from a numbered company called 623468 NB Inc. The company purchased the land from CN in 2006, according to property records.

Corporate records show the company's directors are Amin and Ally Visram. 

The brothers co-founded Vista Group of Companies, a hospitaility and hotel firm based in Kitchener, Ont. that owned the Delta Beausejour in Moncton until 2007.

No information was released about the other properties considered.

Before the city purchased the land, studies were carried out looking for potential contaminants at the former rail site as it did before building the nearby Avenir Centre, Leger said.

"There probably will be surprises, but based on the pretty thorough analysis, the mitigation piece seems to be very small," Leger said. 

Leger said the proximity to the rail line used by freight and passenger trains was considered when the property was evaluated. RCMP had no issues with the location, he said.

"If it was a concern, we would not have purchased that lot," Leger said. 

The next step will be to select an architectural firm with experience designing RCMP detachments. Leger said an update may be provided at the policing authority board meeting on March 14.

"There is a real desire to move this [along] quickly because the current facility is aging and every year we put money into the building just to maintain it and it's a struggle for the RCMP," Leger said.

The existing station at 520 Main St. openned in 1980.

At 36,285 square feet, it is considered too small and no longer meets RCMP design standards. A study suggested a new station should be 64,000 square feet to accommodate additional staff in the future.

The location shouldn't affect response times to Dieppe, Critchlow said.