City’s old RCMP station to come down by year’s end

The old police station in downtown Kelowna will be demolished later this year at a cost of $750,000.

Although the RCMP moved into a new detachment last June, the police have been renting the previous building back from the city to assist with ongoing operational issues.

“The lease will end in July, and its terms do not provide for an extension,” Mike Olson, a city property division staffer, said Thursday.

“So the lease won’t impact the demolition schedule. The building will come down before the end of the year,” Olson said.

After the building is removed, the city intends to call for proposals from the development community for the site, midway in the block of Doyle Avenue between Ellis Street and Water Street.

As part of the Civic Precinct Plan, the property is zoned for a residential tower up to 13 storeys in height. The city’s current intention is to retain ownership of the land and provide it for the chosen builder in the form of a long-term lease.

The Civic Precinct Plan also projects the demolition of Memorial Arena, though not for at least a decade, and the eventual replacement of the Kelowna Community Theatre in 10-25 years with a modern performing arts centre.

Police have declined to say why they are continuing to use the old detachment. A query to RCMP headquarters last year drew a response that said only the building was being used “for an ongoing police initiative.”

Speculation is the old detachment, which has also been fortified with covered fencing in areas that were previously open, is being used in connection with the ongoing Bacon murder trial.

The trial of three men accused of killing the gang leader in Kelowna in 2011 was supposed to be over by January, but it’s well behind schedule with no current end date in sight.