Cabinet agrees to $2 million renovation of ‘historic’ St. John’s Police Station, one of the country’s busiest

It is expected to cost the Government over $2 million to renovate the
St. John’s Police Station from its current dilapidated state.
During its Cabinet meeting on Thursday, September 14, the
Executive reportedly was informed that the renovation of the
station – including its cells, floors, offices and sleeping quarters –
will cost about $2.2 million.

The Executive agrees that the station remains one of the busiest in
the country, and its reconstruction is absolutely vital.

The building, which houses several departments, including the
guard desk, the Criminal Records Office, the Prosecution
Department, and the Minor Offences Department, “is historic and its
role in central St. John’s cannot be discounted,” the Cabinet says.
For three consecutive days – Monday, July 17 to Wednesday, July 19
– officers assigned to that station, in three particular departments,

staged a sit-in, protesting the conditions under which they had to
work.

The building is infested with mold, is badly dilapidated, and is
infested with termites – in addition to having serious structural
problems.
 
Commissioner of Police Atlee Rodney has described the Newgate
Street station as a critical component of policing, with the bulk of
operational-side duties done there.
 
Back in 2020, repairs were made on the western section of the
compound, which improved the working condition for officers there.
 
Rodney says it was expected that the repair work would then have
been shifted to the eastern section; but that did not happen and that
wing was left to fall into further dilapidation.