March 14, 2011, employees reported for work in the newly completed building. They had been packing up their files and contents of their work stations except for the phones and computers during the few weeks prior to that time. The weekend of March 12th and 13th, a moving company moved all the boxes, phones and computers over to the new building so when employees reported to work, everything was ready to be unpacked and put away. An Open House and Building Dedication was held July 18th at 5:30 pm.
June 2009 marked the groundbreaking ceremony of the new Westminster Police Department headquarters building and the beginning of the two year construction project.
The police headquarters project is part of an overall revitalization plan for the Westminster Civic Center that will also include a 650 space parking structure to address the parking shortages in the area. The Civic Center is home to many government services including: City Hall, the Senior Center, Police Department, Community Services, West Justice Center Superior Court, and a county library. Neighboring the Civic Center is the Westminster Rose Theatre, Crystal Catering banquet facility, and the Coastline Community College Le Jao Center.
The new police headquarters provides an efficient and modern building designed to enhance the delivery of police services and meet the energy efficiency goals set by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) requirements. It includes an upgraded 911 communications center capable of housing shared regional law enforcement communications, a new forensic lab for evidence processing, increased evidence storage capacity, an Emergency Operations Center, a Type I jail facility, and work space sufficient to handle the current and future needs of the police department.
The timing of the project has enabled the City of Westminster to bring job growth to the area while taking advantage of a more competitive construction environment saving the City nearly $10M from early cost projections. The City contracted with Griffin Structures, Inc., its program management firm, to construct the building in partnership with McCarthy, Inc. providing construction management services, utilizing a guaranteed maximum price strategy. The 92,000 square foot police headquarters building was constructed for $54,352,000.
The new police headquarters is part of the Infrastructure Revitalization Plan (IRP) implemented in 2002. The purpose of the IRP was to keep local property tax dollars working locally to improve various infrastructure projects within the community. By using IRP funds to pay for the new police headquarters no new taxes will be imposed upon the community—a responsible approach given the current economic climate.
The old police building was completed in 1968 and was the location for Westminster’s City Hall and later its police department. The 40 year old building was designed to accommodate approximately 60-65 employees and a small temporary holding facility for police arrestees. Today, the Westminster Police Department employs nearly 200 full and part-time employees, plus a cadre of volunteers. The old building has now been demolished and construction is underway for the new parking structure, scheduled for completion in April 2012.
