It looks like the Ontario Provincial Police forensics identification unit in Mount Forest is now on the short list of projects under consideration by the province.
Recently construction teams were invited to bid on projects to modernize OPP facilities across the province.
Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services released a request for proposals (RFP) to selected companies to design, build, finance and maintain new OPP facilities in 16 communities across the province including: Mount Forest, Armstrong, Kenora, Iroquois Falls, Timmins, Nipigon, Peterborough, Smiths Falls, Burk’s Falls, Orillia, Walkerton, North Bay, Chatham-Kent, Dryden, Long Sault and Kapuskasing.
The projects will include construction of new detachments, regional headquarters and forensic identification units. Mount Forest has been under consideration for a new forensics operation for several months, and the issue has been considered at county council.
The new facilities, which in many cases are replacing buildings that have exceeded their useful life of 40 to 50 years, will feature up-to-date amenities to better support the demands of modern police operations and meet the needs of the community.
“We’re upgrading and replacing OPP infrastructure to ensure Ontario’s front-line police officers have the resources they need to keep our cities and communities safe,” said Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
Once submissions to the RFP are received and evaluated, the successful project team will be selected and announced in spring 2010. Construction is scheduled to begin that summer.
A copy of the RFP is available on Infrastructure Ontario’s website at www.infrastructureontario.ca.
Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services will develop the new OPP facilities, which will remain publicly owned, publicly controlled and publicly accountable.
Infrastructure Ontario is a Crown corporation dedicated to managing some of the province’s larger and more complex infrastructure renewal projects – ensuring they are built on time and on budget.
