The Hamilton Police Service is planning to convert its six-year-old custom-built forensics and investigation services building at 100 Wilson Street in Downtown Hamilton into the lower city Division 1 station building. The facility was constructed between 2018 and 2020 at an publicly budgeted cost of $25.8-million. It opened in late spring 2020.
The conversion of the forensics building is part of a broader plan to replace the existing 49-year-old police headquarters building, which doubles as the Division 1 station, at 155 King William Street.
In various closed session meetings during the past two years, both the Hamilton Police Service Board and Hamilton City Council have approved building new policing facilities using a public-private partnership, with the costs spread over a long-term payment plan to the private corporation that will construct the building.
The arrangement results in a higher overall cost, but it enables the Police Board and City Council to avoid fully accounting for costs as part of the 2027 city budget. Instead, future city council terms will be required to pay the contracted installments.
Police Board Chair Don Robertson says the police service has “already outgrown that facility,” and that ensuring detectives and forensic investigators have “proper and more modern facilities” will enable police to better conduct major investigations.
Chief of Police Frank Bergen says Hamilton Police “need to maintain a presence in the downtown,” and that converting the existing forensics building can be done at a lower cost than purchasing land downtown and constructing a new building for the divisional station.
“Right now we’re in a process of a P3 public process that is fully accountable and transparent,” Chief Bergen says. Bergen says he is “reluctant to get into details” during the ongoing competitive bidding process, saying the P3 process could determine it is more cost effective to locate the HPS’ administrative headers outside of the downtown core.
A recent posting on the City of Hamilton’s website states the City is looking for a P3 partner to “renovate 100 Wilson Street into a new Division 1 station.”
Chief Bergen says the existing forensics building was designed with the ability for cost-effective modification, meaning that if the decision is made to convert, the costs will be reasonable.
Hamilton Police recently moved its vehicle maintenance section out of the basement of the downtown headquarters into a commercially leased space at 371 Barton Street in Stoney Creek. He says this decision is already helping to create annual budgetary savings.
Chief Bergen emphasizes that the Hamilton Police Service remains committed to serving the downtown.
“I want to have the ability for our officers on foot, on bike, in the vehicles to be able to respond in a timely fashion. I don’t want them to be traveling great distances,” Chief Bergen says. “They need to be in the heart of this amazing city.”
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v. 1.0.0
Published: August 15, 2026
Last updated: August 15, 2026
Author: Joey Coleman
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