New Regional Police detachment to begin construction in Waterloo
(Waterloo Region) Regional Chair Ken Seiling, together with Police Service Chair, Tom Galloway, Police Chief Matt Torigian and other community representatives officially broke ground today to mark the beginning of construction on the new Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) North Division detachment.
WRPS has outgrown the century old building on Erb Street West which has housed North Division since 1991. To meet the expanding needs, the Region of Waterloo purchased a site, located at 45 Columbia Street East in Waterloo for the future North Division Facility. With construction beginning today, the building is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2012.
The building will be built to meet the LEED® Canada Silver level of certification. One special feature of the building is the inclusion of a 30kW Solar Photovoltaic (PV) system which will take up most of the new building’s 10,000 square foot roof area. The electricity produced by the PV system is estimated to be 45,000kWh per year; or enough green electricity to reduce eight tonnes of green house gas emissions annually. The PV panels will not be visible from street level and will not detract from the overall design and appearance of the building.
“The Region has always ensured that our Police Services have good facilities to back up the services they provide to the community,” said Ken Seiling, Regional Chair. “Meeting LEED® Canada Silver level certification also shows our commitment to good environmental practices and energy efficiency.”
“We knew that North Division had outgrown its facility on Erb Street for quite some time, said Police Service Chair Tom Galloway. “We were so pleased that after a three year search, we had the opportunity to purchase this particular location as it will continue to serve the needs of the north end of the Region well.”
“This new facility represents a significant step forward and supports our organizational vision of providing world class policing services to the residents of Waterloo Region,” said Chief Matt Torigian. “By increasing operational effectiveness and efficiency while also improving accessibility to the public, we are better positioned to strengthen our community partnerships and serve the future needs of a growing community.”
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For more information please contact:
Bryan Stortz, Director of Corporate Communications, Region of Waterloo,519-575-4408 bstortz@regionofwaterloo.ca
Olaf Heinzel, Public Affairs Coordinator, Waterloo Regional Police Service,519-650 8500 ext. 8773 Olaf.Heinzel@wrps.on.ca