SaskPower once again announces plans to build 'Logistics Warehouse Complex' at the GTH
SaskPower has announced the organization will be consolidating its Regina operations from its current 13 locations down to six over the next few years.
President and CEO Mike Marsh also announced the Crown corporation plans to renovate its current downtown head office, which was built in 1963. He also said SaskPower has purchased another downtown office building just south of that building for $4.5 million.
He confirmed SaskPower plans to construct a Logistics Warehouse Complex on its $25-million plot of land, which the Crown corporation purchased in 2013. That purchase helped financed the controversial GTH land deal.
Marsh said the three-stage project should be complete by 2027. The cost for the first stage — which will cover site planning for the GTH project and renovations for the two office buildings — is about $67 million.
SaskPower made a similar announcement in December 2013. It said at the time it would be consolidating its 12 Regina locations into four by 2018. Those plans were put on hold due to financial constraints.
Now SaskPower says it's proceeding to renovate or replace its many aging facilities.
"Right now we have more than 1,600 staff spread across 13 locations in the area and bringing those people together where possible will immediately make our business more efficient," Marsh said.
SaskPower said it also considered building its logistics warehouse complex on land it owns north of Regina, but settled on the GTH because of highway access.
"It's a very good location for servicing not only Regina but access to other parts of Saskatchewan," Marsh said in a media scrum. "With the road infrastructure over there and with the city building west and north over the next 30 to 40 years as part of their development plan, it was an ideal location for us."
He said many of Saskpower's current facilities will be relocated there.
"The facilities that we plan to move out there will include our warehousing operation, fleet service operation and ultimately in the final phase our Regina service center. Approximately 400 people will be located at that facility," Marsh said.
