Five words that are music to city council's ears: On time and under budget.
Councillors were updated last night on the construction of the new $103-million Barrie-Simcoe Emergency Services Campus, located on Fairview Road in the city's south end.
Paolo Bovolini, project supervisor with the City of Barrie, told councillors that construction is projected to be one per cent under budget from what was initially forecasted.
Building ‘A’ is a four-level, three-storey structure which will house headquarters for both the Barrie police and fire departments, as well as communications dispatch centre and a Simcoe County paramedic hub. It's expected to be completely weather- and water-tight by this Friday. Building ‘C’, a single-storey structure, will be the police department’s fleet vehicle repair garage.
Jan. 20, 2020 has been set as the expected move-in date for city police, which currently operates out of several buildings, including its headquarters on Sperling Drive as well as space on Bell Farm Road on the other side of Highway 400.
The city's fire department is also expected to set up in the building in mid-January.
By bringing police, firefighters and paramedics into one central facility, the campus model is also expected to save several million dollars on the project’s capital costs as well as operational costs once up and running.
The facility, which is located between Little Avenue and Big Bay Point Road and is visible from Highway 400, will be co-owned by the City of Barrie and the County of Simcoe, which handles paramedic services in the region.
The co-ownership ratio will be around 76-24 per cent between the city and county, but Bovolini said there could be "slight" changes once occupancy takes place.
Bovolini said there have been "fluid and open" talks between city and county officials on the project "to establish the first co-operating and co-ownership agreements between these two entities."
In mid-November, it's expected that IT data and communications rooms will be ready for equipment fitting and testing.
Furniture delivery and installation is set for the first week of December, with major construction expected to be completed that same month.
Landscaping will be completed in the spring.
The groundbreaking at the site was done in November 2017.
"Almost two years today, 110 Fairview was a blank canvas on a farmer's field," Bovolini said.
The emergency services campus is designed to serve the growing city’s needs for the next 25 years.
As part of Phase 2, there were also plans for a Building ‘B’, a police and fire department training facility to be built sometime in the future at a cost of around $30 million, but it has been deferred by city and county council.
