Calgary Police Service breaks ground on new arrest processing centre

The Calgary Police Service broke ground Thursday on the new Spyhill Services Centre, which will replace the arrest processing unit downtown.

The 49,000-square-foot building will sit on a 1.2-hectare (three-acre) parcel of land being leased from the province in the city's northwest, near the Calgary Remand Centre, Calgary Correctional Centre and Calgary Young Offender Centre.

"This facility will help to ensure that detainees can be held safely and securely," Kathleen Ganley, Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, said in a release.

"This will support important work by the Calgary Police Service to maintain public safety and respect individual rights."

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Construction is slated to begin Monday and the facility is expected to be fully operational in January 2020. The estimated cost is $25 million.

"As the facility begins to take shape, we understand that members of neighbouring communities will have questions about the facility and the potential impacts on the surrounding area," said Chief RogerChaffinin a release.

"We are committed to sharing more information and hosting public information sessions."

Once the new facility is operational, the current arrest processing centre property will be turned over to the City of Calgary.

The new building will feature 47 individual holding cells more than double the current facility and the size of each cell will increase by at least 10 square feet.

The design will allow juvenile and adult inmates to remain separate and there will be enhanced closed-circuit TV monitoring.

The building will be LEED Silver certified and include energy-saving fixtures and devices, such as a green roof, LED lighting and occupancy sensors.

There will be two bail hearing rooms, which can be expanded to four in the future.

Suicide mitigation measures were incorporated into the design of the holding cells after engagement with Alberta Human Rights.

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