The Centretown Community Police Centre closed a day after staff were forced to evacuate the building due to flooding. Police are now looking to relocate.
Police say they’re looking for a new location for the Centretown Community Police Centre, after it was flooded late last month for the fourth time in a year.
The office at 393 Somerset St., just west of Bank Street, will most likely be reopened elsewhere, says Const. Khoa Hoang, the officer in charge of the community police centre.
“We’re working really hard to find a new location and reopen
. . . We want to explore every possible opportunity that we have at this time,” says Hoang.
The Jan. 20 flood was the second in a month. The first happened on Jan. 2 due to a broken water line in the laundry room of the building, which is owned by Ottawa Community Housing and a private company.
Centretown residents have been very supportive since the latest flood, says Hoang.
“I have gotten calls on a regular basis from caring community members who want to help out. They are telling me where the available retail space is, which is great, because I don’t have to be out there looking for a new space,” he says.
Choosing a new space for a community police centre is a complicated process, says Hoang, including such considerations as location in the neighbourhood, size and technological compatibility with police equipment.
The flood has not only displaced Hoang and his team of volunteers, but Centretown residents are losing a valuable meeting space to discuss issues in their neighbourhood.
“Usually there is a bi-monthly meeting at the community police centre where community members get together to discuss safety issues, and this’ll have to happen elsewhere this time,” says Charles Akben-Marchand, president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association.
Akben-Marchand says he’s optimistic that the community police centre will find a new home.
However, not everyone is keen about the centre’s possible relocation.
Chelsea Richardson lives and works just around the corner from the flooded police centre. She says she hopes Hoang will move back into the old location once the flood damage has been repaired.
“It’ll be better if they can fix the same place. It’s a really central location, the community (health) centre is right here and this is the centre of Centretown,” says Richardson.