Second downtown Moncton RCMP office opening faces delays
The opening of a satellite RCMP office in downtown Moncton may now only happen this summer, about a year behind schedule.
The office at 795 Main St. will house the Codiac Regional RCMP's community policing unit and City of Moncton bylaw enforcement officers.
The location, about 500 metres west of the current Codiac police station, was announced in March last year when city councillors were told it would open in June 2022.
RCMP security standards and higher-than-expected renovation costs have been blamed for the delays. The timeframe has slipped from June 2022 to late summer, fall, and now to a year past when it was originally expected.
"We're hoping to have a viable office there opening and running sometime this summer," Don Moore, chair of the Codiac Regional Policing Authority board, told reporters last week.
The policing authority, which oversees the Codiac RCMP, has been paying $6,866 plus tax per month for the vacant ground-floor space since December, Moore said. The board is funded by the municipalities of Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview.
The policing authority has been told two tenders to renovate the space — previously a gym — came in significantly higher than expected. No actual numbers have been made public.
Moore said the RCMP standards call for things like special doors, and independent ductwork and electrical systems.
The office was among 27 recommendations in fall 2021 by a task force on downtown safety organized by the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton.
John Wishart, CEO of the chamber, said the security standards shouldn't have been a surprise, though rising costs are more understandable.
"It's a little frustrating that it has taken at least another year because the problem in downtown Moncton has not gotten better in that year," Wishart said. "If anything, it's gotten worse."
Wishart said the business community saw the announcement a year ago of a second location as an important step.
"I think that was really seen as an early victory in our hopes to tackle the whole problem of both homelessness and downtown security," Wishart said.
"It would be a visible sign in the middle of downtown that at least the crime and law enforcement piece was being taken seriously."
The task force, which included representatives of all three levels of government, downtown businesses and organizations that provide services to homeless people, issued its report in November 2021.
Among its recommendations were pushing the province to offer a mental health court, providing mental health and addictions supports in homeless shelters, and studying safe drug injection sites.
Wishart said he's still hopeful the office will help once it does open.
Codiac's previous commanding officer told council last year that about eight police officers would work in the office.
The City of Moncton confirmed Tuesday it still plans to move bylaw officers now working from city hall to the space once it opens.
The Main Street office is expected to open while construction is ongoing on a new $57.1 million building on Albert Street to replace the current RCMP station. That building is expected to be complete in January 2025. Moore said the Main Street location would likely remain even after the Albert Street building opens.
