KITCHENER - The Region of Waterloo has purchased the former provincial courthouse on Frederick Street for $6.4 million and it will become the new home of the Kitchener detachment of the Waterloo Regional Police.

The total cost of the project including renovations is $42 million.

"It is a significant hit on the police budget," said Tom Galloway, regional councillor and chair of the Waterloo Regional Police Services Board.

But "it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up at this time," he said.

Galloway said the current police building at 134 Frederick St. is at capacity and there is no room for growth. Renovating the current building would have cost $60 million, he said.

"It made economic sense," Galloway said of the acquisition of the former courthouse.

A report on the purchase comes before a regional committee Tuesday and is set for formal approval at regional council next month.

Regional chair Ken Seiling said moving police services to the former courthouse keeps police visible in the core area.

"The offer came along in a timely way," he said. "The price was right."

In addition to size, the property's central downtown location just down the street from regional headquarters at 150 Frederick St. makes the property attractive, Seiling said.

The building, at the corner of Frederick and Lancaster streets, has been vacant for almost four years, since local court services were consolidated in March 2013 into the new regional courthouse at 85 Frederick St.

The province declared the former courthouse surplus, and in 2016 offered it for sale to other levels of government, including the City of Kitchener, the Region of Waterloo and local school boards, as well as eligible not-for-profit organizations that have registered with the province.

The three-storey concrete building was built in 1977, measures about 87,000 square feet and sits on slightly more than two acres of land. It has the ability to expand to 100,000 square feet.

It is easily recognized by the distinctive but controversial twisted orange fibreglass sculpture in front of the building. A regional report says decisions on the artwork in the building and the outside sculpture will be discussed at a future time.

The building also has underground parking for up to 98 vehicles and jail cells to hold prisoners.

The current Kitchener detachment is next door to regional headquarters. It was built in 1958 and has undergone two additions and extensive renovations.

The region owns the 42,000-square-foot building and will take control of the property.

Police Chief Bryan Larkin said the former courthouse building will be able to meet future policing needs.

"The current facility is at above capacity," said Larkin. He noted that there is a lack adequate space for male and female officers, minimal parking and a cellblock that is obsolete.

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With the additional space in the former courthouse, police will be able to move departments that currently are at headquarters on Maple Grove Road in Cambridge to the Kitchener detachment, Larkin said. That includes traffic services and the communications centre, he said.

Police expect to move into the building in 2019.

The former county courthouse at the corner of Weber and Frederick streets also was vacated when the regional courthouse opened. The region owns the building and spent $21 million to renovate it before regional staff moved into the space in September 2015 from office space leased elsewhere.