The new Christchurch Central Police Station has been officially opened today by the Minister of Police and Corrections, Hon. Anne Tolley.
The purpose-built 7500 square metre police station, built at a cost of $22 million, incorporates the Department of Corrections Southern Regional Office, as well as the Southern Communications Centre for Police and Fire Service emergency calls.
Some 500 Police staff and 40 Corrections Services managers have been working out of the building since December.
The relocation from the old Hereford Street Police station will be completed next week when the dogs section and custody suite move to the new site.
Construction of the new building began last May, and the first staff moved in just seven months later. Total construction time to handover has been nine months.
Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Gary Knowles paid tribute to all those involved in the construction, saying the rapid build time made the project extremely challenging.
"The background of the Canterbury earthquakes, the displacement of our staff and the tight time frames, make today's ceremony all the more remarkable.
"This project has been completed in about a third of the time it normally takes to design, plan and build a major police station. It's been an outstanding effort from everyone involved.
"This is a very different environment from the premises we've occupied in the past. It's modern, spacious and high-tech - and having so many of our staff on one site is encouraging us all to work more collaboratively."
The complex also meets IL4 earthquake design standards for a post-disaster facility.
Police Commissioner Peter Marshall told guests at the opening that the new facility marked an important turning point for Canterbury police in a post-earthquake environment.
"Today is a chance to reflect on the continuity of service they have provided to the people of Canterbury through the emergency and ever since," he said.
"In shifting to a new purpose-built headquarters we are symbolically turning our faces to the future of policing as part of the fabric of this regenerating city, while never forgetting those who served in the old station."
The move ends nearly 140 years of Police presence on the Hereford Street site. The city's first stone police station was built there in 1873, replaced by the recently-vacated station which opened in 1973.
At today's ceremony, Superintendent Knowles acknowledged nine current Police members who have worked at all three Central stations over more than 40 years' service.
Police expect to remain in the building for around five to eight years, while a long-term facility is developed as part of the new Justice Sector Precinct in the central city.
Superintendent Knowles said Police were delighted to be sharing premises with the Department of Corrections - a move which foreshadowed the new, collaborative approach across government agencies in the Christchurch rebuild.
The station includes open plan office space, reception and public areas, interview rooms, an armoury, exhibits storage, special operations rooms, forensic laboratories, a firearms training simulator and other specialist facilities.
The custodial suite includes 22 cells providing 36 beds - a number of cells are "double-bunked" in line with current international best practice.
A video showing a time-lapse view of the construction of the station can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2jLiAYOwFY
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