The push for a new Beaver Dam Police Department is gaining a little momentum.
On Monday night, the operations committee unanimously approved an amendment to the city’s space needs study which recommends that the old YMCA property on Park Avenue be razed and a new police department constructed in its place.
The committee will send the study, which is to be used as a guide as the city begins the process of addressing the police department’s space needs, to the city council for its approval.
Mayor Tom Kennedy hopes funding for initial engineering and design work will be approved for 2010 and said he would like to see construction begin as early as late in 2010 or spring 2011.
Regarding police department use, the amended study reports that the 1.75-acre YMCA site has good access via Park Avenue and Washington Street and would allow for adequate parking in addition to a building footprint of 30,000 square feet.
The space needs study completed last year placed the police department’s space needs as the city’s top priority.
But in February, the city council rejected a resolution which would have began a two-year process of renovating city hall, including a much-needed expansion of police department space. Alderpersons, while supporting the police department, cited a rough economy and a reluctance to further burden tax payers.
The resolution would have led to an additional $330,000 of borrowing for 2009 and would have funded preliminary architectural and design work, paving the way for an approximate $5 million renovation in 2010.
A preliminary cost estimate performed by MSA Integrated Project Delivery sets the price tag for a new police department at $5.25 million. A renovation at that same site would cost approximately $4.4 million.
“These costs are close enough that MSA recommends deconstructing the existing building, reclaiming building materials as appropriate and designing and building a new police facility on this site,” the amended study reads.
As for the planning phase of the project, students with Milwaukee School of Engineering, through college instructor Bob Lemke, have volunteered to undertake the preliminary design of the potential police station as their senior project.
Actual design work will not begin until December, and by February, the city should have a look at the students’ completed work in the form of 3-foot by 3-foot models. Professional engineers, architects and construction managers will also review the work, and after receiving feedback, students will develop their own cost estimate.
Three different teams will work on the project, each coming up with its own design.
After looking at the students’ designs, the city council will decide whether or not it wants to include engineering and design costs in the city’s borrowing for 2010.
dbaulch@capitalnewspapers.com