Building of police station to start

5/29/2003

Construction work is to begin this summer on the Perrysburg police station.

City Council last week approved bids for the project that has been scaled back from the original estimate of nearly $12 million. Although the estimated cost earlier this year was trimmed to about $7.8 million, the bids came in about 30 percent below that figure, according to Doug Dariano, city engineer.

Details on the construction timetable were to be discussed earlier this week during a pre-construction meeting with the general contractor Rudolph/Libbe.

The total bid package, including some alternate bid options, was $5,797,000, he said.

Police Chief Nelson Evans said he was pleased with the outcome of the bid package but disappointed that council voted against the indoor firing range.

The station will include room for the range, but no equipment.

Because of health concerns, the firing range located in the basement of the municipal building has not been used in the last year or two, the chief said. The facility was built in the 1960s and lacks proper ventilation, among other health concerns, he said.

That range will be removed to make room for temporary facilities for the police division while the station is under construction. Mr. Dariano said that was one of the bid alternates accepted by council. The basement will be converted into temporary housing for the police division, and the space can be used for meeting rooms after the police station is finished, he said.

Work on converting the basement into temporary housing for the police division likely will begin shortly after contracts are signed, Chief Evans said, adding that he anticipates that he and his staff will move in in August or the first part of September.

The two-story police station will feature a finished basement with a locker room, a training room, and an evidence room. The second story will be shelled in, the chief said, but there will be no walls. That space will be for future growth.

As part of the construction project, a sally port, or enclosed garage area, will be constructed as well as a lobby. The lobby will serve as the main entry area to the police station and the municipal building, and it will link the two structures, the chief said.

The station, which will be located on the site of the current station along Walnut Street, is to be finished in about 16 to 18 months, officials said.

“It will be nice. It will be great for the officers and dispatchers, and great for the city and its residents,” Chief Evans said.