Mayor Healy to Break Ground on New $10.4M West District Police Station

[shahaggy]

anyone want to start a pool guessing cost over runs and actual completion date?

[MCA™]

At groundbreaking, mayor says Jersey City's first new police station since 1954 will upgrade area, quicken responses
Published: Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 3:01 AM
Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal



Jersey City West District police precinct groundbreaking gallery (11 photos)

Jersey City officials broke ground yesterday morning on a $10.4 million police precinct in the city’s west district, a new facility that will replace the 140-year-old Communipaw Avenue facility that the deputy police chief calls an “abomination.”

The 29,000-square-foot precinct, which is scheduled to be completed in 14 months, has been in the works for more than 30 years. Mayor Jerramiah Healy said at yesterday’s groundbreaking that it will improve the neighborhood as well as police response times.

“We’re finally getting this done,” Healy said.

The City Council contracted the work back in 2010, but the losing bidder sued, putting the project in limbo for years.

Situated on the corner of Clinton Avenue and Seidler Street, the new precinct’s entrance will face Martin Luther King Drive. The facility will include a bulletproof reception area, a secure area for prisoner drop-off and pick-up, and an energy efficient design, according to city officials.

Police Chief Tom Comey yesterday praised the mayor and City Council members for securing the funds, mostly through the city’s capital budget, to construct the new precinct. It will be the first new police station in Jersey City since 1954.

Comey said the city has been on the verge of building a new West District precinct for decades. Back in the 1970s, he said, officers stationed in the current West District, located on Communipaw just south of King Drive, were told “don’t get too comfortable” because of a rumored new precinct.

Nearly 40 years later, the new station is finally become a reality. When it finally opens, it’ll be like Christmas morning, Comey said yesterday.

Officers contacted The Jersey Journal last year to complain about conditions at the current precinct, saying it had numerous Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations. Yesterday, Deputy Police Chief Peter Nalbach called the current precinct, where about 130 police officials are stationed, an “abomination.”

Department of Public Works Director Rodney Hadley said there’s no plan yet for the old West District precinct on Communipaw Avenue.

[MCA™]

"The new West District Precinct will replace the current building at 576 Communipaw Avenue which opened in 1872 and has been a police station ever since. While renovations have occurred to this and other police buildings, the new West District will be the first new police station built in Jersey City since the South District was built in 1954.

"Features of the new West District will include a 29,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art police facility equipped with the latest technology. The building, which is being designed for LEED-Silver standards, will be two stories high and will include a basement level.

"The new West District, which is being designed by The Goldstein Partnership in conjunction with the City of Jersey City Division of Architecture, will include ADA barrier-free design (access for wheel-chaired and physically-challenged people), a bullet-proof reception area, a detention area, a secure area for prisoner drop-off and pick-up, a roll call room, conference and interview rooms equipped with audio/visual equipment, a detective offices, a back-up generator and fire suppression system, an exercise/multi-purpose room, a lunch room, onsite parking, domed lobby entrance with skylight."

[jcgov]

Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy, Police Chief Thomas Comey, and other city officials will break ground on the new West District Police Station during an 11 a.m. ceremony today, Tuesday, April 24th, at 76 Clinton Avenue (Seidler Street and Clinton Avenue).

"We are pleased to break ground on this important project, which when complete, will be a state-of-the-art and LEED Silver facility for our police officers in one of the busiest police districts in the State of New Jersey,” said Mayor Healy. “This is a much-anticipated project and one that will not only improve the quality of the work environment for our officers, but which will also improve the neighborhood. These improvements will allow for better communications and police response.”

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