Edmonton police campus project needs new roof, $8M more funding: city report

The leaky roof on the Edmonton police campus facility needs to be replaced, adding $8 million to an already delayed and over-budget project, according to a report headed before city councillors on Monday.

It's the latest in a series of setbacks after the leaks were uncovered shortly before the Edmonton Police Service Northwest Campus was slated to open in early 2019.

With this latest request, the project is now expected to cost $119.7 million, roughly $12 million more than what council budgeted before the roof started to leak. The report does not set out a new timeline for the opening of the campus, which is already more than a year behind schedule.

Administration is asking city council to approve $8 million in borrowing authority to complete the project, a request Councillor Jon Dziadyk says matches the cost of replacing the roof.

"In a COVID[-19] world where we have no extra money and we're making really hard cuts and the city has laid off many people, it's a shame that we have to fix this roof," said Dziadyk, who represents the northwest Edmonton ward where the facility is located.

Council expected the campus to open in early 2019 after the lion's share of the two-year construction project wrapped up at the end of 2018. But a period of freeze-and-thaw cycles that winter exposed leaks in the roof.

The city hired independent contractors to assess the damage, and repairs were completed by early 2020. The repairs worked, but then leaks began to materialize in other parts of the roof.

City looks to recover costs through litigation

The city increased the project budget by $4.6 million in October. Some of that money went toward launching a lawsuit against 40 named defendants, including contractor PCL construction and IBI Group.

After further structural tests in March, the city concluded the entire roof needed to be replaced, according to the report. City administration is looking to recover all remediation and delay costs through litigation.

The new campus, located on 127th Street on the north side of Anthony HendayDrive, was much anticipated by police. It was intended to bring multiple key facilities from recruit training to information management under one roof.

The city says its working with EPS to move some police functions into the new campus in stages despite the troubles.

"It's quite unfortunate they'll have to wait longer," Dziadyk said. "We want to get the police in the building as soon as possible."

Coun. Sarah Hamilton, who serves as a council representative on the Edmonton police commission, says she will be asking administration at Monday's meeting how the project got to this point.

"This issue has been going on for so long, you can't help but think that during this time EPS could've really used that space," she said.