LITTLE CURRENT – Construction started on the new Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) detachment in Little Current on April 1 as part of the OPP modernization project.
“The contract was signed in August with Bird Construction, which will be building all nine detachments. They will start construction as site conditions allow,” said Cary Mignault, special advisor in the stakeholder relations and communications department of Infrastructure Ontario.
As has been previously reported, nine new OPP detachments are being built across Ontario alongside regional command centres and forensic identification units. All told, 18 facilities will be built and all will meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification.
“April 1 was our first day on-site and we’ve started laying things out,” said project superintendent Michael Sweeney of Collaborative Structures Limited, a subcontractor for Bird Construction.
He said much of the materials for the various projects have been purchased as a group from a single supplier to secure better rates, including the buildings’ HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems that will be standardized across the sites.
In Little Current, Belanger Construction is on-site beginning work to prepare the property. Mr. Sweeney said the 10,000 to 12,000 square foot facility is projected to be completed by late summer in 2020.
“As much as possible, we’re trying to get locals involved,” said Mr. Sweeney.
The detachments will feature a secure functions area with holding cells and interview rooms, a public admittance area, an administration area for support staff and management and operational area with offices and evidence storage vaults, according to a press release from Bird Construction.
There has yet to be an official groundbreaking event scheduled for the Little Current site. Other communities have already hosted groundbreaking ceremonies. The other eight locations to receive new detachments are: Moosonee, Orillia, Fort Frances, Marathon, Hawkesbury, Port Credit, Huron County and West Parry Sound.
