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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCITY OF FORT COLLINS POLICE SERVICES FACILITY - FDP - 29-05A - MEDIA - CORRESPONDENCEFort Collins Colora( City editor: Pat -rier, 224-7742 Triplensized upgi Policed illhave new, 92,000-square-foot headquartf By SARA REED and SaraReedwcoloradoan.com Fort Collins police will soon get a chance to stretch their legs after decades spent cramped in their headquarters at 300 Laporte Ave. After four years of searching and planning, the city and the depart- ment will break ground Thursday on the new $225 million police headquar- ters at 2221 Timberline Road. The new 92,000 square - foot building is more than triple the size of the exist- ing building on LaPorte and will include an ex- panded crime lab, evidence property rooms, an emergency communica- tions center, training facili- ties and a Fort Collins po- lice museum, according to spokeswoman Rita Davis. The new building also al- lows for growth over the next 20 years, Davis said. The police department currently leases about 25,000 square feet of space at various locations around the city to augment the 26,564-square-foot facility on LaPorte, Davis said. The east -side location was chosen primarily be- cause it is close to the geo- graphic center of Fort Collins, Davis said The District 1 station on By the numbers Exfsting building, 300 Laporte Ave. ■ Built 1957 ■ Site size:l'h acres ■ Building size: 26,564 square feet New building, 2221 Timberline Road ■ Built: Will break ground Thursday, open August 2007 ■ Site size:10.8 acres, Th net acres (subtracting space for future roads) ■ Building size: 92,000 square feet Walnut Street in Old Town will remain there when the rest of the department moves, Davis said The land — bought for $1.8 million in July 2004 — was paid for using money from the 1997 voter -ap- proved Building Commu- nity Choices sale tax, ac- cording to City Manager Darin Atteberry. The fa- cility is being paid through Certificates of participa- loan E-mail: CityNews@coloradoan.com oade ors next year lion, which are similar to bonds, with the city mak- ing 22 annual payments between 2005 and 2026. Money set aside from the city's general fund over recent years will cover those payments, Atteberry said. The total project is esti- mated to run about $33 mil- lion, Davis said. Despite deep budget cuts over the last few years, including a $5 mil- lion cut to the 2006 budget, building the new station was a priority for the city, Atteberry said. ,,The (current) building is deficient and has been for a number of years," he Rich Abrahamson he Coloradoan The future home of the Fort Collins police deparbTWd is shown at 2221 Timberline Road The facility, ju tn of � Road, is e1�lected to be canPleied by year. said. "We felt this was a very high priority." Two road construction projects currently under way in the area — includ- ing the widening of Tim- berline between Drake and Prospect roads and im- provements at the inter- section of Timberline and Prospect — are not related to the new building, but will be completed prior to its opening, according to city engineer Don Bach- man. The project, which will alleviate congestion at one of the city's worst in- tersections, is scheduled for completion this fall.