BLOOMINGTON — The Bloomington Police Department's goal is to protect and serve its community, but it can no longer protect its 3rd Street headquarters from floods and water leaks. The department wants a new home and it has the perfect place in mind.
"We have to do something with our current place because we have simply outgrown it," said Bloomington Police Chief Michael Diekhoff. "It's getting more expensive to upkeep the building."
The city and police department are focusing on an abandoned four-story concrete complex on Rogers Street as the potential new headquarters. The building is already owned by the city and was part of the former Bloomington Hospital campus.
"The Rogers Street property is an obvious solution that we just had not considered yet," said Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson. "This is what we believe is a 50-year fix, it's really a no-brainer."
Thomson, Diekhoff, and other city officials unveiled the proposed move in a public meeting Monday night.
The city does not have to build a new headquarters from the ground up, but the potential new police headquarters would still need 18 months and $22 million for a remodel. That money would come from a bond after approval from the public and city council.
Thomson said the city no longer has the option to not pay for police station upgrades.
"The current building is in desperate need of repairs," Thomson "The choice really is to spend upwards of a million dollars to demolish the building or to invest in a renovation and make the best use of that infrastructure."
A previous proposal to move police headquarters to the historic Showers Building, which also houses City Hall, is no longer preferred because of logistical complications.
"It was a matter of building inside of a building rather than having an existing building that did the work," Thomson said.
Diekhoff said the police department needs to find more space immediately because the current building limits how his officers can operate.
"We can't really expand our investigative division because there's no place to make new offices," Diekhoff said. "When we do roll call, there's no parking. The space we do roll call in is really small, so there's no place for officers to sit."
If the relocation plan does go forward, Thomson estimates the Bloomington Police Department could move to Rogers Street in 2027.
-
The WNBA's Fever and NBA's Pacers are more than just neighbors in Indianapolis
The Pacers and Fever aren't just neighbors. They're basically basketball family. They have the same ownership, play their games in the same building, cross paths with the other all the time.
Thousands gather for 'No Kings Day of Defiance' protest in Indianapolis
As President Donald Trump plans to celebrate his birthday with a military parade in Washington, D.C., thousands of protesters have gathered at the Indiana Statehouse for "No Kings Day of Defiance."
Game 4: Thunder rally to top Pacers 111-104 and tie Finals
The Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 10-point, second-half deficit to beat the Indiana Pacers 111-104 on Friday night and tie the NBA Finals at two games apiece.
Silver Alert issued for missing 76-year-old from Warrick County
Debra Bone, 76, is described as a white female, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 172 pounds, with gray hair and green eyes.
