Kent Police to Protect and Serve from New Building
The city of Kent Police Department is currently located at the corner of Water Street and Haymaker Parkway and if all goes to plan they will be moving to the corner of Haymaker Parkway and Depeyster Street this fall.
In the 1920s the police department moved to its current location after operating out of small, two-room building, west of the current location, according to Michelle Lee, chief of police.
“In the 1920s we moved into this building,” Lee said about their current location on Water Street. “This building was originally a fire department and about a third of its size.”
According to Lee the police and fire department operated out of this small building for decades along with other city departments. As the city grew the fire department moved out to its current location behind the police department on Day Street.
“The existing facility itself [current police station] had been outgrown at least five times,” Melanie Baker, city of Kent’s service director. “There are five additions to the exciting facility.”
Baker said the current police department is small which makes it difficult to move around and maneuver. The current jail is remote and not close to the officers and their daily operations. The new station will have 11 cells allowing them to hold more people for longer.
“[In the 2000s] We found this building was basically, little by little deteriorating,” Lee said about the current station. “The core of this building was built in 1924 and we had seen about three renovations over the course of 80 to 90 years.”
“In 2010, probably the best thing that could have happen to us, we had a partial roof collapse,” Lee said. “It was just outside my office, it was basically decayed, rusted and collapsed.”
After this, the city conducted a study and concluded the current building needed to be overhauled or completely taken down and rebuilt. It made more financial sense to build new then to renovate.
“From there we had to determine how we were going to pay for it and where were going to put it,” Lee said. “That generated a lot of other studies.”
Lee said the city looked into other locations and other options. They looked into building a new facility in the current location but that would have required them to temporarily move for a few months while the new facility was being built. They realized that wasn’t going to work so they committed to building a new facility at a new location.
The city had to purchase 18 different parcels from several owners to obtain the land needed for this new facility. According to Lee this purchasing process took about a year and a half.
“In 2011 we put on the ballot a one quarter percent (.25%) increase in income tax,” Lee said. “That was dubbed as issue 11, unfortunately issue 11 failed at the polls.”
The next year the city hired professionals to promote and help pass the new initiative, issue 4. In the fall of 2012 this passed and they had their funding lined up for the new facility.
The building contract is 11 million this includes the contractors, construction and any building expense. There will be about another million for furnishing and inside amenities, according to Baker.
According to Baker there are many benefits that come with this new police station. The location will give the citizens of Kent easy access to their police department with adequate parking and space.
“I also think it will be a benefit to Kent State, we will be able to continually assist the university and their police to make sure there is a safe environment for the students,” Baker said.
It being located at the end of esplanade is also very beneficial for students. It will give them easy access to the police and a safe place to report, make a safety call or talk to an officer.
“The new police station is about a 30,000 square foot facility that will house our police department, detectives, dispatches and also has a jail with about 11 cells,” Baker said. “This will allow us to hold prisoners for a longer period of time.”
On August 4, 2016 the notice to proceed was issued, meaning this was the first day the contractor could move in and start working. The contractor was behind and didn’t get moving until the second week in September, according to Baker.
This winter has been extremely wet making it difficult for the contractor to move around and work. Baker thinks this project is about 25 percent complete with a projected completion date of October 19, 2017.
With spring around the corner they are expected to make up some ground in the warm weather. Once they get the walls up it will move faster because weather won’t be such a big factor, according to Baker.
“A new building will service us for the next 50 to 100 years,” Lee said. “Have we had to stay in this building or rehab this building; it would have cost the city tens of thousands of dollars. That money would not have been well spent.”
Lee said the new police station is being built with the police in mind. It will be tailored to their needs and operation, helping them do their job in the most efficient manner.
Story: Nick Boone
Video: Julian Wissinger
Webpage: Devon McCarty
New story finished for #KSURPP about Kent Police getting a new building. https://t.co/xuGT0ZdFVh
— Devon McCarty (@DesignatedDevon) March 22, 2017