Mayor Brian Bowman remains certain Winnipeg’s current Public Safety Building must be demolished.

“My position is clear. I’d like to see it bulldozed,” said Bowman Wednesday.

Bowman’s comments follow the city property committee’s 30-day postponement of a vote on tearing down the 50-year-old former headquarters of the Winnipeg Police Service to replace it with some mix of public space and private development. Committee members based the late Tuesday vote on a desire to first explore the heritage and architectural value of the structure.

A city report also recommends the Princess Street building be demolished, stating it’s too expensive to renovate, thanks to crumbling Tyndall stone cladding, an inaccessible stairway entrance and mechanical systems connected to the structurally compromised Civic Centre Parkade.

Demolition is already the plan for the parkade next to the PSB, which was shuttered in 2012.

But Winnipeg’s mayor stressed the building has no heritage designation and the cost to repair it is simply too high for taxpayers.

“What we’ve been advised is that it is essentially beyond repair. So the cost that we would have to put in to save it is one that I don’t favour,” said Bowman.

Coun. John Orlikow, chair of the property committee, said the one-month delay should ensure due diligence without any real negative effect for the city. That’s because the WPS has just started to slowly move out of its current home and isn’t expected to conclude that move until June or July.

“Heritage is in the eye of the beholder sometimes and we want to make sure ... that we’re not just rolling through to demolish a building,” said Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry). “I’m not sure of the heritage value. I think there’s some architectural value to it. How much architectural value will be remaining after we have to renovate it, that’s another question.”

Orlikow said the idea of a “Civic Campus” that would move city staffers from satellite offices to the PSB, which is just across the street from City Hall, isn’t affordable due to the cost of the renovations that would require.

The committee did approve a call to issue an expression of interest to sell or rent out the former Canada Post Tower at 266 Graham Ave., pending council approval.

This year alone, city staff expect to lose $2.1 million in missed revenues from the mostly vacant tower and face another $300,000 tab to operate it.

jpursaga@postmedia.com

Twitter: @pursagawpgsun