The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor The RCMP have pulled out of their Flin Flon headquarters and will work from the Creighton detachment until the city fixes the roof. The Mounties vacated their downtown detachment a week ago, Oct. 19, and it's not clear when they will be back. 'Due to problems as a result of a leaking roof, Flin Flon RCMP have temporarily relocated operations to the Creighton RCMP Detachment,' said Cpl. Miles Hiebert, a Manitoba spokesperson for the RCMP. 'The return date is yet to be determined, and will depend on the time required to make repairs.' Cpl. Hiebert said the move will not interrupt police service for Flin Flon. Flin Flonners who need to deal with the RCMP in person are to go to the Creighton detachment. Suspects from both sides of the border will be housed in Creighton cells as needed. The Flin Flon Fire Department remains in the city-owned Hapnot Street building it shares with the RCMP, as problems with the roof do not extend to its part of the complex. See 'Roof...' on pg.3 Continued from pg.1 Asked whether the city was surprised by the RCMP's departure, Municipal Administrator Mark Kolt said ' 'everyone concerned has known that the roof condition has been an issue for some time.' 'The question of how one reacts to it is something that evolves from day to day, and I'm not going to try and characterize the city's reaction at this particular point,' he said. 'I do know that the RCMP is a partner for us in a lot of important operations and that we want to work cooperatively with the RCMP as much as possible to resolve outstanding issues and get things back to normal as soon as possible and as reasonable in this circumstance.' Kolt said the RCMP left after a heavy day of rainfall that brought the known problems with the roof 'to a head.' Speaking on Tuesday, he could not say when the repairs would be complete as the city was still examining its options. But the city and RCMP are 'working towards a scenario to get them back into the building as soon as possible,' Kolt said. Kolt said the 'ideal solution' would be to convert flat portions of roof to a sloped roof, with the cost roughly estimated in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. There have also been suggestions of 'more small-scale isolated repairs,' he said, 'but then you've got to be really certain you've got your finger on what the problem is.' 'In this case we're trying to scratch our heads and try and figure out what we can do with the dollars we have,' said Kolt, adding the city has applied for a government grant to fund repair work. While water seepage can lead to mould, Kolt said several examinations of the complex found no 'definitive trace' of the fungus. Neither Cpl. Hiebert nor Kolt had been informed of any added costs, such as rent, resulting from the temporary relocation to Creighton. During this time, Flin Flonners who require emergency police assistance continue to phone 911. The Flin Flon RCMP can also still be reached at 204-687-1422. The administration line is temporarily 204-923-0138, while the fax line is 306-688-8885. The city owns the Flin Flon detachment and provides space to the Mounties as part of its contribution to community policing. The Flin Flon RCMP and Fire Hall complex opened on Jan. 27, 1981 at the corner of Hapnot Street and First Avenue at a cost of about $1.5 million. The previous RCMP station was based in the upper level of the Post Office. The old Fire Hall, long since torn down, sat across First Avenue from the Flin Flon Hotel. The city council of the day wanted to have the new building uptown, so an old building that once served as a bus depot and coffee shop was demolished to make way.
