We devoted space in this corner last week to city council’s approval of a $24,000 expenditure to complete the Phase 2 environmental assessment underway at the Colin McGregor Justice Building, home of the St. Thomas Police Service.
A couple of days later the Times-Journal ran a photo of the coal gasification plant previously housed on the site and accompanied it with the cheeky headline, “City’s dirty little secret coming out.”
The story prompted a lengthy discussion Thursday with Ald. Mark Cosens, an outspoken proponent of refurbishing the justice building, in lieu of construction of a new police headquarters on city-owned land at the Timken Centre.
Cosens concedes the results of the study are pretty much a foregone conclusion – it won’t be a pretty picture – but that in itself should not preclude proceeding with upgrades to the existing police headquarters.
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