
Abilene police officers hope to move into a new space at City Hall in early April. Renovations are underway on the upper floor of the historic building at 419 N. Broadway, which will provide more room for the department.
“We’ll be moving all of our day-to-day police functions from the first floor to the second floor,” said Jason Wilkins, assistant police chief. “We recognize that we’ve had some spatial issues for a while. This move up here will provide us with more space. The layout will allow us to be a little more efficient with our services.”
Built 100 years ago in 1922, the Classic Revival style stone building also houses administrative offices and the Abilene Fire Department. Because City Hall is included in the Historic Downtown District the renovations will preserve the historic integrity of the building.
When members of the public visit the police department they can take the stairs or the elevator and first enter the lobby. To the right will be a service window and to the left what was formerly the municipal courtroom, will become a training room with a small breakroom area.
“With the remodel of the Dickinson County Courthouse we’re moving our municipal court over there,” Wilkins said. “The main reason is for safety. If a person in custody had to make an appearance in municipal court, we have to transport them from that facility — bring them over here to our building to appear in court. Over there, we can take them directly from the jail right down the hallway into a courtroom.”
Past the lobby, the remodel will provide clerks with their own space, including a bulletproof door and service window.
“(Now), we actually have to walk through the clerk’s workspaces to get down into the chief’s office,” he said.
Further back, the area that used to be a dance room for Abilene Parks and Recreation will be where the day-to-day police functions will happen. During the renovation process, the floor was covered with plastic to prevent damage to the original wood, which will be refinished.
The chief and Wilkins will have their offices in this space as well as offices for the sergeants and investigations, and an interrogation room.
In the middle, they will install several workstations for the officers.
“This will be nice,” he said. “Downstairs things are kind of broken up”
Another benefit with the move is they will have a second door.
“We don’t have a rear entrance to our current offices,” he said. “Everybody we bring in has to come through the front door of the city building. This location allows us to access (a) rear non-public entrance.”
City Manager Ron Marsh said the project, which started in October was approved at a cost is $411,065.