UPDATE: At their Nov. 26, 2018 meeting, members of Barrie city council OK'd a change order for the Barrie Simcoe Emergency Services Campus contact to design, supply and install exterior signs for Barrie police and Simcoe County paramedics, as well as rough-in provisions for a future Barrie Fire and Emergency Services sign.
Council decided if "sufficient additional efficiencies," or savings, cannot be found, the estimated $35,000 cost associated with the signs will be funded from the city’s tax capital reserve.
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It’s a small drop in the bucket as part of a $132-million project, but the local police services board says it’s pretty significant in its absence.
The Barrie-Simcoe Emergency Services campus, which is being built on Fairview Road in the city’s south end, will include a new police and fire headquarters, as well as a communications dispatch centre and a Simcoe County paramedic hub.
However, it has come to the Barrie Police Services Board’s attention that the design doesn’t include an illuminated sign featuring the police department’s crest, similar to what is on the current Sperling Drive police station and which is visible from Highway 400.
In correspondence from earlier this month between the city and the police services board, it was noted that the lighted sign, expected to be placed high on the new police building and visible from Highway 400, was not considered as part of the project, nor was it covered in the almost $270,000 budget for signs.
In her letter to city officials, police services board chair Angela Lockridge said the present design includes a monument sign facing Fairview Road, near the property's north entrance, which says ‘Barrie Simcoe Emergency Services Campus’.
“It is the opinion of the board that the signage provided is inadequate and does not properly act as a beacon to the citizens of Barrie and those travelling through the 400 corridor,” wrote Lockridge, who added the board would not be adverse to the fire and paramedic crests also being included on the new building.
The current Barrie police building on Sperling Drive in the city’s north end includes three large illuminated signs, two of which are visible from the highway.
But Lockridge says these signs can’t be reused, “as they are the old corporate branding.”
“It is also important to our members to have a sign that represents the crest that they wear on their uniforms 24/7 to protect our community,” wrote Lockridge.
Lockridge said inquiries were made with Owen Signcraft in Barrie, which provided an estimate of $5,683 per sign before tax and not including electrical hook-up.
The police services board would like to have an illuminated sign on the west side of the new headquarters near the top of the building and has asked city officials to have the project team look into the matter.
“The location of the new headquarters was chosen because of its central location and placing signs at ground level does not properly allow people in crisis to find the building in an emergency,” wrote Lockridge, who used similar examples such as hospitals and other police stations in the province.
City councillors are expected to discuss the next steps with the illuminated crest sign at their meeting on Monday, Nov. 26.
