Construction on the 200,000 sq. ft. expansion could begin as early as September 2006. The combined office and police station building will be joined at the ground level to the present Regional Headquarters at 10 Peel Centre Dr.

The facility will cost $49.6 million to construct with an additional $6.9 million required for permits and connection fees, project management and support, construction contingencies and building commissioning (e.g., technology and mechanical infrastructures and testing).

"The various uses of this building will enable us to increase public access to important services by providing them at one site and adjacent to a central Brampton transit hub," said Regional Councillor Gael Miles, Chair of the Region's Management Committee. "A single reception area and integrated community resource centre will serve as a gateway to social assistance, children's services, housing services and water and waste management services."

Currently, clients are required to travel to different sites throughout Brampton to access various services that will be available in the expanded facility.

"On the cost side, we can maintain greater control through owned assets rather than leasing office space indefinitely at multiple locations," said David Szwarc, Peel's Chief Administrative Officer.

The building will be six storeys of blue tempered glass and stainless steel sitting atop three levels of underground parking. A wide street-level main entrance, one-stop service reception, a community resource centre and a large cafeteria are among the features designed to provide Peel citizens and visitors with a positive customer experience.

Peel Regional Police 21 Division staff will occupy 30,000 sq. ft. on two floors of the building. A brick exterior to this portion of the building combined with the brick exterior of the existing Regional Headquarters will frame the facility's predominantly glass faÇade.

Cost-conscious, state-of-the-art, energy-efficient geothermal heating and cooling will be installed.

"The geothermal system will provide cost-effective heating and cooling to the building," said Szwarc. "Fluid travelling down a series of wells will take on the earth's temperature at 1,200 feet below ground and be pumped back up to control the building's internal temperature. We expect the savings from this technology to pay off in three years."

An onsite generator will be installed to help keep the building operating in the event of a power interruption.

Full occupancy of the expanded facility is expected in fall 2008.

The Regional Municipality of Peel was incorporated in 1974 on the principle that certain community and infrastructure services are most cost-effectively administered over a larger geographic area. The Region of Peel serves more than one million residents in the Cities of Brampton and Mississauga and the Town of Caledon.

For more information on the Region of Peel, please call 905-791-7800 or visit peelregion.ca.