[hollywoodnorth]

RCMP gets green light for E-division move
Last Updated: Thursday, February 7, 2008 | 9:59 AM ET
CBC News

The RCMP has been given the green light to move its E Division headquarters in Vancouver to the suburbs in Surrey.

The move from Heather Street is one that has been talked about for years.

But now the Federal Treasury Board has given Public Works Canada and the RCMP the green light to qualify developers interested in taking on the project.

The new location is a 14-hectare site on 96th Avenue near Green Timbers Urban Park in Surrey.

The advance notice to vendors calls for the design and construction of more than 68,000 square metres of office and support space.

Getting approval to move is the first step for a project that is expected to take at least five years to complete.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said the relocation makes sense.

"A lot of the members actually do come from Surrey and Langley and Abbotsford and the outlying communities,'' she said.

"Surrey is the largest RCMP detachment in the country so it really fits well," she said.

Watts hopes many of the 2,300 people who work at the new site will relocate to Surrey.

By shifting to the suburbs, the RCMP will leave behind 8.5 hectares of prime real estate on the west side of Vancouver.

According to a community plan drafted two years ago, if the federal government doesn't find another use for the site, it will be offered up for sale at market value.

The plan says the community would like to see non-market and affordable housing mixed in with any new development.

Residents would also like to see the old Tudor-style Fairmont Academy building preserved for cultural or recreational uses.