The City of Hamilton and Hamilton Police Service (HPS) announced they received “strong interest” after recently issuing a call for public-private partnership proposals to design, build, finance, and maintain a new Police Headquarters and Division 1 (Downtown) Station.
A city update explains further that they received a “significant number” of Stage 1 submissions for the partnership.
A full review of the current Headquarters and Division 1 Station at 155 King William Street previously determined that the building has “major problems,” including safety issues, outdated systems, and a lack of room for expanding needs.
The building is well over 40 years old.
Renovations are deemed to be “expensive and disruptive,” which is why they are looking at other options.
As such, the city and HPS are looking at a number of alternatives, including the lease of privately owned buildings and the development of new purpose-built or retrofitted facilities, which can be on either private or city-owned lands.
The city says that the new Police Headquarters and Division 1 Station can be located at a single site or at separate sites.
The Division 1 Station must remain in Downtown Hamilton, but the Police Headquarters can be located anywhere within the city, “with preference for sites that are accessible by multiple modes of transportation.”
In terms of location options, the city says that the existing HPS Investigative Services Division building at 100 Wilson Street (Wilson Street and Mary Street) “may be available to retrofit” into a new Division 1 Station, but then the proposal would need to accommodate the Investigative Services Division in a new Police Headquarters facility.
According to the city, the public-private partnership would be under a “progressive design-build-finance-maintain (DBFM) structure.”
The proponent would plan and design, construct, finance, and maintain the facility/facilities, and HPS would sign on to a 40-year lease with a payment structure.
The city would also seek approval for the properties to be exempt from property taxes.
Stage 1 of the plan was completed on January 30, with the city receiving initial submissions.
By Feb. 12, the city will notify proponents if they have been chosen for Stage 2 of the process, which involves forming a design and development team.
The city hopes to reach Stage 3 in August 2026, when they will shortlist the proposals and ask for a detailed submission.
They hope to award the project and enter agreement negotiations either at the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027.
HPS says that a new facility would have to be at least 200,000 to 250,000 square feet of space with a public-facing lobby, administration and report facilities, visitor parking, secured police fleet parking, staff parking, sally port, custody area, holding cells, records and property storage, forensic lab, administrative offices, professional development training facilities with a 50-metre firing range, meeting spaces, a multi-purpose room for press conferences, a gymnasium, lockers, and facility loading to the rear.
Approximately 733 dedicated parking spots are needed for police staff and fleet.
The city says that it is unclear at this time what will happen with the King William site once HPS has transitioned to a new facility.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
