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Troutdale Chief of Police Scott Anderson says the city has long needed a new police station.

The police department presently is headquartered in a former bank building that was constructed in 1956. The building has no holding cells and no safe place for police to park either their personal cars or the city’s police cars.

鈥淚t has been quite well known for several years that this is not functioning as a police department building,鈥� Anderson said.

is designing the new building. The firm previously conducted some study work for the project.

鈥淲e’ve seen quite a few police stations, and this one was by far in the most disrepair,鈥� HSR principal John Ralston said. 鈥淭he cops moved into it, the city grew and the facility didn’t.鈥�

In 2008, the police department sought a $5 million bond to pay for a new building 鈥� and that bond failed.

Last year, the department pursued a $7.5 million bond 鈥� in part to pay for planning work by a consulting architecture firm. The police chief and sergeants went door-to-door to support the cause. One police representative even dressed in a Star Wars stormtrooper costume to advocate for the new building.

The measure passed, even though the election cycle was one in which few cities were able to convince voters to approve tax increases.

鈥淭he police really rallied the community,鈥� Ralston said. 鈥淭hey really went all out.鈥�

鈥淲hen we went out to the voters, we made it clear as to the services we could provide in a new building,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淩esidents want certain things from us, and we want to deliver them, but we can’t do it without the level of support a building can give us.鈥�

A new facility will let Troutdale’s police department offer more proactive programs such as crime analysis and neighborhood watch, Anderson said.

The other argument that resonated with voters was an economic one, he added.

鈥淏ecause the economy is where we’re at, we are able to get more bang for our buck right now,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淭he construction industry is very competitive.鈥�

鈥淲e worked with the city to look at options: one was to renovate an old Saturn dealership,鈥� Ralston said.

The city settled on a new, 22,800 square-foot, two-story building on city-owned land. Now the project is speeding ahead.

鈥淚t’s a fast-track deal,鈥� Ralston said. 鈥淲e want to get in the ground before it starts to rain because we’ll save a lot of money that way.鈥�

HSR advocated for the use of the construction manager/general contractor delivery method because of the timeline and because of a recent experience where low-bid contractors went out of business in the middle of a job.

鈥淭his project had to happen so fast, and it has to come out right,鈥� P&C Construction project engineer Ryan Weber said. 鈥淭here’s no other way (other than CM/GC) that the project could be done.鈥�

Weber said that P&C has experience both with law enforcement buildings and with the CM/GC delivery method.

鈥淥n these projects, it’s very important that the end users get what they want. If they don’t, it’s horrible,鈥� he said.

Weber cited the example of a police station’s security gate systems 鈥� if an officer is escorting a suspect and has only one hand to activate a security gate, it needs to work properly.

Crews broke ground Aug. 25, and preliminary site work is under way. P&C Construction expects to move its construction trailer to the location soon. The project team will use a series of bid packages to hire subcontractors so that construction can move forward while upcoming phases are being designed.

The facility will have the 鈥渢ypical鈥� aspects of a modern-day police station, Ralston said, including holding cells, juvenile detention facilities and a community room that will double as an emergency operations center when needed.

Also, the new facility is being designed to not become as cramped and inadequate as the existing one.

鈥淭he building has room to grow for the next 20 years,鈥� Ralston said.