The city of Durango will study the economic feasibility of moving the Durango Police Department to the Durango School District 9-R Administration Building, which the Durango Fire Protection District recently purchased.
“I see the value in proceeding with a financial analysis, but I think it needs to be very clear that this is not a done decision. This is an analysis,” said City Councilor Barbara Noseworthy, during a study session Tuesday.
DFPD purchased the Administration Building in December and hopes to convert it into a downtown fire station. The proposal has drawn criticism from some residents, especially those who live in the general vicinity of the building at 201 E. 12th St.
Throughout the purchase process for the Administration Building, Fire Chief Hal Doughty often said he would like to convert it into a joint emergency operations center, which could house fire and police services.
Police Chief Bob Brammer said after reviewing the site with DFPD, he believes there would be adequate space for his department.
“DFPD provided a site floor plan that the police chief worked with the fire chief on to see if a cohabitation of space could actually work at the 9-R building,” said Durango City Manager José Madrigal. “Chief Brammer has indicated to me that just from a layout component, the spacing will work for the police department and its future needs.”
While direction was given to city staff members to evaluate the cost of housing the police department at the Administration Building, City Council made it clear that it would like to keep all options open.
“As with all things, I think we need to be aware of what the options are there for us,” said Durango Mayor Kim Baxter. “I’m concerned, because if this is the only option that we’re pursuing for evaluation, then we don’t have anything to compare it against.”
Madrigal said part of the financial analysis will consider other options for developing a new police station to compare alongside the Administration Building option.
To Baxter’s point, Madrigal said a financial analysis would look into what it might cost to build a new police station in a different location, or to renovate the existing police station at 990 East Second Ave., to compare that with the cost of cohabiting with DFPD at the Administration Building.
During the discussion, City Councilor Jessika Buell said she would like more information about potential police station relocation sites the city has looked into in the past.
“I know cost estimates are probably way out of date, but I think a little background on what has been looked at in the past for us would be great information to have, especially for me as a new councilor,” she said.
Madrigal said the first steps for creating a financial analysis will be having discussions with DFPD about what sort of financial cooperation would be expected if the city chose to co-locate at the Administration Building.
A timeline for the financial analysis was not set, but Madrigal said it may take between two and four months to bring together a well-researched estimate.
DFPD is in the planning phase for its downtown fire station, and the fire department has not yet received approval to renovate the Administration Building.
njohnson@durangoherald.com
