Barrie’s former police station could one day be city staff offices.
Councillors gave initial approval Monday night to both reverse a previous decision to declare the Sperling Drive property surplus to the city’s needs and instead investigate its use by city staff, along with offsetting costs related to approved and forecast capital projects, as well as other city space requirements, and report back.
This could also delay a multi-million-dollar, long-range plan to expand Barrie City Hall on Collier Street.
Acting Mayor Barry Ward said it makes sense to determine if the former police station site and adjoining parking lot could play a role in addressing the city’s future space requirements.
“A few years ago, city council was discussing a possible 70,000-square-foot addition to city hall, plus renovations to the current facility, which would cost about $73 million, to accommodate future staffing needs,” he said. “That price tag would obviously be a lot more now with what we’ve seen happen to construction costs.”
Staff want the opportunity to investigate the potential of retaining 29 and 35 Sperling Dr., as a facility to accommodate the growth of various city departments, provide swing space for several approved or forecast capital projects and eliminate the potential need for a costly future expansion of Barrie City Hall.
“The pandemic has taught us there might be a different way of doing things, with more staff working from home at least part of the time,” Ward said. “It’s worth considering whether conversion of the former police station would be sufficient to handle the city’s growth, at a much lower cost.”
Staff suggest the facility would also be suitable for records storage, meeting rooms and training space.
The COVID-19 pandemic drove changes to the work practices of both city staff and the public, upending the way some municipal services are now delivered in Barrie. These changes include the use of digital tools and equipment, flexible workspaces, and remote and hybrid work environments, all of which could reduce the city’s future physical workspace needs.
Ward notes that Monday night’s motion asks staff to report back to city council on whether or not using the former police station will offset future capital costs.
“I’m sure it will compare the costs of using the Sperling Drive property versus building from scratch or renting elsewhere,” he said. “I think there is the potential to save many millions of dollars, so it is worth looking into and, as the staff report points out, there are environmental benefits to renovating.
“The renovations to city hall have already begun and would continue,” Ward added. “They are aimed both at updating the facility and providing more efficient spaces.”
In early 2018, city council endorsed a plan to optimize and eventually expand Barrie City Hall, located at 70 Collier St., to meet the operational needs of a growing city. Upgrades to date have increased the third floor capacity by 22 per cent, although the large expansion date is forecast outside of the city’s 10-year planning cycle.
In 2017, council approved the construction of the Barrie-Simcoe Emergency Services Campus at 110 Fairview Dr. This also meant 29 Sperling and the adjacent parking lot at 35 Sperling were declared surplus to the city’s needs when Barrie police relocated to the new facility, which was completed in March 2020.
In September 2020, council endorsed the lease of 29 and 35 Sperling to the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) for use as a regional COVID-19 assessment centre. This lease agreement was extended as the pandemic progressed and is now anticipated to end Sept. 30, 2022.
In August 2021, council endorsed an agreement with RVH and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit to use a portion of 29 Sperling to support the ongoing warehousing of supplies for COVID-19 immunization efforts. The health unit expects to vacate the space within the building in the near future.
And there are other possibilities for the Sperling Drive properties.
The city is studying whether it’s more economically feasible to update Fire Station No. 2 on Bell Farm Road, Barrie’s oldest fire hall, or to rebuild a new hall in another location. The proximity of 29 and 35 Sperling to Station No. 2, located on the other side of Highway 400, could provide a suitable alternative, as the current lot size and layout of Fire Station No. 2 limits the layout required to support operational needs.
As part of this study, staff would also review the feasibility of relocating the Barrie Fire and Emergency Service’s training apparatus from its location on Saunders Road, a property leased on a month-to-month basis, to the 35 Sperling lot. Should this be viable, new mutual training agreements with Georgian College might be possible.
Also, records storage space at city hall and on Cedar Pointe Drive is nearing its maximum, with a need for more. City records are being stored in various facilities, some with higher-than-average operating square foot costs. Staff say this is not an efficient use of space or annual operating budgets. But spaces within 29 Sperling are well-suited for records storage and this would allow many of these documents to be consolidated in a single location.
The former cop shop is also equipped with two large meeting rooms accessible from the front entrance. Public meeting rooms available in city-owned facilities are often used by public organizations, and staff would include in their review the potential to retain and update these rooms for public use, something believed to be beneficial in alleviating the demand on meeting room bookings at city hall.
RVH has also expressed interest in continuing to lease space at 29 Sperling in a smaller capacity, post-pandemic. Where not all space at 29 Sperling is used by city staff, the potential to lease space to other organizations could assist in covering some of the operational and maintenance cost of the building.
Barrie councillors passed the motion Monday night with no discussion. City council will consider final approval at its May 16 meeting.
