LAKELAND - The courthouses in Bonnyville and St. Paul will get a cut of the $26 million that is being put into justice-related infrastructure maintenance projects across Alberta.
The Capital Maintenance and Renewal (CMR) funding is being split between 18 communities. Many of the projects include "critical repairs and upgrades," according to information from communications officer Taylor Hides. The project will also ensure Albertans "have access to vital justice-related programs and services."
The provincial government believes the projects will also have an indirect benefit on local economies, and will create jobs in the trades.
The Bonnyville provincial building and courthouse will receive $1.2 million to replace exterior glazing, improve energy performance and reduce air leakage.
The St. Paul Courthouse will receive $2.8 million for three projects. The first is $1.8 million to replace the courthouse roof. Then, $340,000 will go toward replacing the building management control system; and lastly $700,000 will be used to resurface the facility’s parking lot.
It is estimated that the two projects will create approximately 23 jobs in the constituency.
The St. Paul Courthouse was originally built over 1986 and 1987, according to Hides. The Bonnyville courthouse is almost a decade older and was built over 1978 and 1979.
“I’m very happy to see that these two much-needed upgrade projects were included in the Capital Maintenance and Renewal Program. Shovel-ready projects such as these are a priority and provide important investment into our provincial infrastructure," said David Hanson, MLA for Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul.
"As far as why these location were chosen - Alberta Infrastructure regularly evaluates government facilities and uses a maintenance criteria to score projects based on priority," explains Hides.
"These projects are then added to a list, which is organized by priority ranking. These justice-facility projects were chosen based on their ranking and because they could begin right away, getting Albertans back to work as quickly as possible," he adds. The chosen projects have been deemed as being "shovel-ready."
When work begins at the courthouses, it will be managed to avoid disruption of regular services, as much as possible, says Hides.
Of the $26 million in funding, $8.5 million is going to the courthouse, correctional centre and medical examiner facilities in Calgary.
Then, $8.8 million will go to courthouse and correctional centre facilities in communities surrounding Edmonton. The remaining $8.7 million will go to courthouse maintenance projects in 10 other Alberta municipalities.
