St. Catharines Downtown Association

The writing may be on the wall, but Brian McMullan is still holding out hope the message can be edited.

The St. Catharines mayor says he's not ready to throw in the towel and concede defeat in his bid to keep Niagara Regional Police in their current downtown headquarters.

"I guess there's always hope," he said Friday, sounding tired after a marathon meeting about the contentious issue the night before.

Niagara Regional council voted to begin negotiations with unspecified landowners for a new police headquarters site following a seven-hour closed-door meeting Thursday night.

Regional staff and councillors refused to say what cities were under consideration, or even how many sites remained in the running for the centrepiece of a police facilities renewal plan that will cost regional taxpayers close to $100 million.

But Regional Chairman Peter Partington did acknowledge after the meeting that keeping 110 James St. as part of the headquarters isn't on the table.

Acting police board chairman Doug Martin also said the current headquarters in St. Catharines wasn't on the shortlist of properties considered Thursday night.

Please see full story in The St. Catharines Standard by Peter Downs at: