Ponoka mayor Rick Bonnett says, with a new RCMP building years away, the town needs to figure out what it will do with the existing detachment, which according to a facility condition assessment, needs $422,000 in total upgrades.

Among the upgrades needed to keep the building operable for its lifespan: a new roof, HVAC upgrades and other repairs to improve indoor air quality -- work estimated at $284,000 alone.

“That’s not going to be acceptable to this council and we’re going to have to find ways to pare that number down,” Bonnett says.

The mayor says the RCMP has been asking for a new building for years, that the existing one is too small to fit officers and the Integrated Traffic Unit.

However, he says a new headquarters will not be built until 2022 at the earliest, partly because police are more stringent when vetting contractors.

That leaves council with the uncomfortable prospect of sinking money into a building that can only serve the users for a few more years and could eventually be vacated anyway.

During Tuesday night’s council meeting, the feasibility of selling the 1972 building was questioned, as it comes with a cell block. Some municipalities turn old police buildings into museums. Demolition is also an option, though undesirable to Bonnett.

“I’m not putting down $500,000 or even $200,000 into a building and three years from now or four years from now, blowing it up,” he says.

He says administration will have to get creative.

“We’re going to push our administration to find some short-term solutions so we can get something happening there rather quickly so we can keep our men and women of the force working on behalf of the town citizens. But we will continue to diligently look at getting them a new building as quick as possible.”