BLOOMINGTON — The Bloomington Police Department's goal is to protect and serve its community, but it can no longer protect its 3rd Street headquarters from floods and water leaks. The department wants a new home and it has the perfect place in mind.
"We have to do something with our current place because we have simply outgrown it," said Bloomington Police Chief Michael Diekhoff. "It's getting more expensive to upkeep the building."
The city and police department are focusing on an abandoned four-story concrete complex on Rogers Street as the potential new headquarters. The building is already owned by the city and was part of the former Bloomington Hospital campus.
"The Rogers Street property is an obvious solution that we just had not considered yet," said Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson. "This is what we believe is a 50-year fix, it's really a no-brainer."
Thomson, Diekhoff, and other city officials unveiled the proposed move in a public meeting Monday night.
The city does not have to build a new headquarters from the ground up, but the potential new police headquarters would still need 18 months and $22 million for a remodel. That money would come from a bond after approval from the public and city council.
Thomson said the city no longer has the option to not pay for police station upgrades.
"The current building is in desperate need of repairs," Thomson "The choice really is to spend upwards of a million dollars to demolish the building or to invest in a renovation and make the best use of that infrastructure."
A previous proposal to move police headquarters to the historic Showers Building, which also houses City Hall, is no longer preferred because of logistical complications.
"It was a matter of building inside of a building rather than having an existing building that did the work," Thomson said.
Diekhoff said the police department needs to find more space immediately because the current building limits how his officers can operate.
"We can't really expand our investigative division because there's no place to make new offices," Diekhoff said. "When we do roll call, there's no parking. The space we do roll call in is really small, so there's no place for officers to sit."
If the relocation plan does go forward, Thomson estimates the Bloomington Police Department could move to Rogers Street in 2027.
-
Town of Speedway gearing up for the month of May
As the calendar turns to May, the town of Speedway, Indiana, prepares for its biggest event of the year — the Indianapolis 500.
Tire malfunction believed to cause fatal crash involving Boilermaker Special
The Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office is investigating a deadly crash involving Purdue University's Boilermaker Special late Thursday afternoon.
Madison County woman creates a safe transitional home for foster kids.
WRTV's Amber Grigley went to Anderson to present Tracy with the prestigious Jefferson Award for Multiplying Good.
How will a proposed cigarette tax increase affect Hoosier health?
Indiana lawmakers are working on passing a budget that would increase the state’s cigarette tax by $2 per pack. Lawmakers say it will help with the state’s budget deficit and medicaid costs.
