Construction of Newmarket's new $26-million state-of-the art police station is officially underway.
Police and civic dignitaries gathered Friday, Sept. 25 for the groundbreaking of the #1 District facility at 429 Harry Walker Parkway South that is scheduled to be completed and open for operation in late 2021.
The 49,500-square-foot station will serve not only Newmarket, but Aurora, East Gwillimbury, King Township and a small portion of the north border of Vaughan, with a total population of close to 200,000 citizens.
The facility will be home to more than 200 sworn and civilian police service members.
The new station will feature public access and areas for community use, administration and office areas, vehicle sally ports, as well as a booking areas, holding cells and interview rooms, evidence lockers and secure storage areas, fitness rooms, lockers and a lunchroom.
The building is designed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver standards, which incorporates design elements to minimize operational energy costs and greenhouse emissions.
York Regional Police will retain the current #1 District station at 240 Prospect St. in downtown Newmarket.
The three-storey building on the west side of Prospect Street at Water was originally built as additional office space by Office Specialty in 1949, when business was booming following the Second World War, according to local historian Richard MacLeod.
In August 1971, when Office Specialty was closing, negotiations began for the sale of the office building on Prospect to the Region of York for $225,700 for York Regional Police headquarters.
