The approximately 610,000-square-foot New Edmonton Remand Centre is about the size of eight Canadian football fields, which are roughly 390 feet in length by 195 feet in width.

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Only a year in the making, the four-year construction plans for the New Edmonton Remand Centre – a correctional facility in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – have been going well despite some challenges. A team approach has been the key to the successful project, Alberta In­fra­structure Project Manager Jon Newman notes.

Alberta Infrastructure is responsible for infrastructure planning and building, managing government-owned infrastructure, land acquisition and leasing throughout the province.

It is working with Edmonton, Alberta-based construction manager Stuart Olson Constructors; Edmonton, Alberta-based prime consultant O’Neill O’Neill Procinsky Architects (ONPA); and client Alberta Solicitor General and Public Security Correctional Services on this $620 million (Canadian) project. Construction started in fall 2007 and is scheduled to be completed in fall 2011.

The approximately 610,000-square-foot project is about the size of eight Canadian football fields, which are roughly 390 feet in length by 195 feet in width.

The new Remand Centre will house 1,947 beds in 981 cells, Newman notes, adding that almost all cells are double-bunked.

Once completed, the new Remand Centre will be the largest correctional facility in Canada.

The facility will re­place the 29-year-old Remand Centre located in downtown Edmonton. The new correctional center is being built in the city’s north end, next to the Edmon-ton Young Offender Centre.

The new Remand Centre is located approximately seven miles from the existing downtown site.

Housing Inmates
“The main purpose of the Remand Centre is to hold inmates that are awaiting court or sentencing,” Newman explains. “It’s a holding facility until their sentencing. Be­cause of that, we have a broad variety of inmates, so we have to design a maximum-security facility.”

The Remand Centre will have 24 general living units with pods that are connected to a corridor, leading to the central services building.

“Each pod unit is self-contained to the extent possible to minimize movements of inmates, and there won’t be a whole lot of escort iss­ues,” Newman says.

Each regular living unit is comprised of 36 housing cells. The cells share a common area that includes a dining area, a classroom and an outdoor exercise area.  

The majority of services and programs will be delivered in the unit.

The central healthcare clinic will provide extended medical services, including medical care, dental care and diagnostic imaging. The healthcare pod also in­cludes an infirmary for seriously ill inmates and a mental health unit.  

The New Edmonton Remand Centre will also feature a central services building that will contain the kitchen, laundry facilities, and a commissary, as well as spaces for administration staff, central admissions and discharge units.

“The beauty of having a large number of living units is it allows the clients to separate and classify inmates in a greater range than they were able to do in the past,” Newman notes.