New police building resolves safety concerns
By Eric Poston, Kyle Dawson and Lauren Rathmell
The carpet is torn, the basement floods and plumbing is failing at the current City of Kent Police station. The list of concerns and repairs is long, too long and too expensive to try and repair.
The city of Kent will soon have a new $13 million safety building in downtown Kent as construction is underway. The need for a new building comes after an extensive review of the facility. Voters first rejected the 0.25 percent income tax issue in 2011, but approved the issue in 2013, which is generating $1.3 million annually to fund the new police facility. The increase is only temporary, and will stop once the new building has been paid in full.
CURRENT BUILDING
The current building, built in 1924, was formerly home to the Kent Fire Department. City of Kent Police Chief Michelle Lee said the building is full of maintenance and safety concerns and is not ADA accessible.
Lee said the majority of the problems stem from the basement, which is crumbling.
“Things break and they just don’t get fixed,” Lee said.
Several additions have been made to the building since 1924 including one in the 1950s and one in the 1970s. Lee said the efforts to get a new building started back in the 1990s.
“The fire department and the police department both had some needs, we were running out of room here,” Lee said. “We engaged local architect Dave Sommers and Associates, to do a facility study to determine who had the greater needs, the fire department or the police department.”
The 32 page study compared the building to two similar studies done in 1955 and 2000, and addressed the areas that have not been fixed, or have not been fixed for the long-term. In the study, an extensive list of the repairs needed was estimated to cost roughly $12 million.
Results of that study revealed the fire department had greater needs and the police station project was put aside for many years. Lee said in addition to safety concerns, the police department is limited on space and is spending a lot of money each year on maintenance issues.
“This building, although it doesn’t look so bad on the exterior, is embarrassing,” Lee said. “We have ripped carpeting, and 1970’s decor. It just doesn’t lend itself to a very engaging or warm environment.”
Faced with a lack of storage, the department is forced to store a large amount of evidence at an off-site facility.
“There are certain types of evidence that we are required to keep for 30 years,” Lee said. “That’s hard for us to do here when we are already lacking space.”
Several pieces of evidence are currently stored in an attached garage in locked drawers and on shelves.
In the basement, a panel of exposed wires shows the cables necessary to operate the 911 lines, and the dispatchers sit in a windowless room. The old dispatcher area is now bike storage because the room could not be updated with the most current technology needed to work efficiently.
The building lacks an elevator to the second floor, which does not meet current ADA compliancy standards.
NEW BUILDING
Starting from the ground up, the new building will feature much needed safety and cosmetic updates. The current building lacks parking especially during shift changes and Lee said the new building will allow for additional parking and covered parking spaces that will help with response times in the winter.
Dave Sommers and Associates Project Architect Sean Barbina said the covered parking will be a huge upgrade so officers don’t have to spend part of their shift clearing their car of snow and ice.
Barbina also said that the new building will have the biggest impact on the efficiency of the station.
The 33,712-square-foot building will also feature upgraded dispatch and a state of the art jail.
Ground was broken for the new building in July, with site prep completed. Barbina said the contractor is on schedule and is currently working on the foundation for the new building.
In addition the new building will allow for more storage space and technology upgrades. Lee also said the new building will allow for the department to work more effectively as currently the police officers and detectives are in separate parts of the building.
Barbina said the building will be connected to downtown and have easy access for the public. He also said there will be native grasses as a part of the landscaping, which will be something new for Kent.
The exact details of who will be housed in the new police station has not been finalized as currently several other city officials are housed in police building.
Lee is most looking forward to the sense of pride, which will come with the new building slated to open in October 2017.
See what the Kent Police Department is getting with your $13 million #JMCRPP https://t.co/dQuw93XiGS
— Kyle Marie Dawson (@KyleMarieDawson) September 19, 2016
The growing list of building safety concerns leads to a new building for the Kent Police Department https://t.co/DKGAMZrUk3 #JMCRPP
— Lauren Rathmell (@laurenrathmell1) September 19, 2016
The city of Kent will soon have a new police station, which will be a major upgrade for the department https://t.co/MSJ9Lxq2a8#JMCRPP
— Eric Poston (@ericposton) September 19, 2016
