In a June 24 update on plans for a new district operations centre, Saanich council was presented with a rough design proposal that could include between 600 and 1,200 housing units and have a price tag of between $180 and $212 million.
This major redesign and expansion of the operations centre at Quadra Street and McKenzie Avenue is not scheduled to be completed until 2029 at the earliest, according to a district staff report.
Coun. Colin Plant expressed a sense of urgency to get going.
"These projects get more and more expensive the longer you wait," he said. "This council has been pretty clear that we need a new operations centre."
The progress report did include some meaningful tidbits of information that showed some headway, including that the land to temporarily relocate the facility to has been acquired. In February, Saanich bough three properties on Lochside Drive that will allow the operations centre to move off the site within the next two to three years.
Councillors also heard that the district is actively courting private-sector partners for the project. But to make it financially workable it will likely not take the form of the nearby Nellie McClung library project, which is set to be developed as a partnership between the Capital Regional Housing Corporation and the district with funding support from B.C. Housing.
Project managers are expected to return to council at some point this fall with a more fulsome update on the operations centre redesign.
