Potential Sites for New TPD Headquarters Narrowed to Two
City Commission Votes Unanimously in Favor of City-owned Sites
October 16, 2019
The Tallahassee City Commission took another step forward today in the site selection process for the new Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) headquarters, narrowing the list of proposed sites brought forth by the community from five to two. The two locations are City-owned properties, which will avoid any additional costs associated with land acquisition. The two locations are:
- Lake Bradford Road Wastewater Treatment Plant, 1815 Lake Bradford Road
- Northwood Centre, 1940 N. Monroe Street/514 W. Tharpe Street
Citizen engagement will continue to drive the site selection process. A community meeting will be held for each site to garner additional input from neighbors, as well as the community at large.
Additionally, during this stage of the process, preliminary site layouts and in-depth evaluations will be completed. Staff will then present a summary of findings, including a preliminary cost analysis, and seek direction from the City Commission on the final site selection. After authorization has been received, the architect will develop conceptual drawings of the new TPD headquarters.
TPD has conducted operations from the headquarters on 7th Avenue since 1972. Over the past several decades, space constraints to support modern public safety services have continued to mount within the current building, which was originally designed for other purposes and is nearly 100 years old. The department has grown considerably in terms of the number of employees and the variety of services it offers to the community since moving into the current facility. During the evaluation of TPD’s current headquarters, it was identified that the future home for TPD needed to serve a much broader purpose.
To meet this need, a site selection process was outlined and approved by the City Commission at its March 6 meeting. The City solicited and received a total of 68 site proposals from the community. The sites were evaluated based on criteria approved by the Commission, and the list was narrowed to 10 potential properties (three City-owned, seven privately owned). Of the seven privately owned properties, two indicated they would consider selling, thus further narrowing the list to five. Tonight’s vote continues to refine the list to meet the needs of the department and the desires of the community.
The vision for the new headquarters is that it will provide adequate space for TPD’s more than 400 officers and staff, meet current and future operational needs and expand the concept of a traditional police station by also incorporating a variety of publicly available features to serve residents. A multi-functional facility of this type will help police officers connect and build strong bonds with residents, a focus of TPD’s community policing efforts.
For more information, visit Talgov.com/TPDHQ.
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