The Portage la Prairie Planning District office building at 800 Saskatchewan Avenue West is undergoing expansion construction in Portage la Prairie. RM of Portage Deputy Reeve Roy Tufford explains the reasons revolve around changes for Portage Regional Economic Development.

"Some of us sit on both the planning board and PRED board. We want to have a one-stop shop. So, if someone's coming to examine the possibility of locating here they need to know about zoning, they need to know about permits and all of that kind of stuff. So, to have them in the same building made sense."

Tufford outlines the highlights of the endeavour.

Old look"We have a fairly expensive high-cost building over there where PRED currently is. We want to save some costs and have a common reception, etc. So, we built onto the Planning building. We're building three offices in there, and there'll be a common boardroom. All the other infrastructure facilities are already there. It's a very cost-effective way of getting a new location for them where we want them to be."

He adds, "The challenge will be now we have a building we're not using. Ideally, we don't want to continue to own it, but we'll see what happens."

Tufford notes business continues as usual for the Planning office.

"Although there's a lot of construction out front, signage will direct you to the back door and take you right into reception. It's full-business. We're not shut down in any way. And the construction's going great. I'm thinking January they should be completed. I don't think they'll be moved in by January, though."

Stages of construction: