Exciting times for the Coaldale RCMP.
Ground has officially broken on the new detachment building which will be going up on the east side of the community.
Staff Sergeant Glenn Henry was at the sod-turning ceremony late Monday afternoon (June 10). He tells My Lethbridge Now.com after three years of policing in Coaldale, it’s great to see work start on the new facility. “From both an efficiency and morale level, having a new building is something that’s really important to us and something we desperately need.”
Local mounties are currently working out of older buildings in Lethbridge and Coaldale and Henry says having everyone under one roof will make their policing much more efficient.
The construction contract was recently awarded to Pomerleau Incorporated out of Calgary at a cost of nearly $12 million.
Coaldale Mayor Kim Craig says a new detachment building was promised when the RCMP began policing the community on January 1st, 2016. “When this detachment is finally open and operating in Coaldale, all the functions of policing can be centralized there. I think it will make life a lot simpler for the men and women who serve our community and region.”
Craig and Henry were joined by RCMP Assistant Commissioner John Ferguson, Chief Superintendent Bernadine Chapman, Alandra Corrigan (rep for MP Rachael Harder) at the official sod turning event.
The new Coaldale RCMP detachment should be ready to open in 2021.