The new $5.6 million Chesterton police station at 791 Broadway is now open for business. At nearly 11,000 square feet, it’s twice the size of the old cramped facility across the street.
The new station is built on a former parking lot, so perhaps it makes sense that the portion of the building across the street where police conducted business in a warren of cobbled-together rooms will be razed to make room for additional parking.
“It’s nice to actually see outside,” Police Chief Tim Richardson said while standing in his new office, which opened in late August.
Once he was hired as chief, he quickly saw the need for a new station. “Basically, I was here for about 30 days,” he said, before meeting with Town Council member Sharon Darnell, who was council president at the time, to discuss facility needs for best practices. “The building didn’t accommodate that,” he said.
After weighing the options of remodeling or building, the need for a new structure was apparent.
The old station was a former fire station, with walls put up for offices. Hallways served a dual purpose as the space got more cramped.
The police department was across the street for about 47 years. “They got their money’s worth,” Richardson said. “Now we have a state-of-the-art facility that is probably good for the next 70 years.”
“The final product is A-plus,” he said.
The new facility is built with addressing officers’ mental health in mind. “It can be a stressful job,” Richardson said, moving from a call about a dog to the next call being a fatal accident, he said.
Along with large windows letting in plenty of light, there are break rooms upstairs and downstairs plus a fitness center upstairs. There are men’s and women’s locker rooms and shower facilities so officers can work out and get cleaned up before or after their shift.
Assistant Chief Cisco Rodriguez led a tour through the new building.
The foyer is open 24/7 for visitors’ use. There’s a drop box for unused medications and a phone to contact police after hours. The records room is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The patrol room is “probably the busiest room in the entire department,” Rodriquez said, with officers filling out reports.
A processing area is just off the sally port. There are temporary storage lockers, a holding room – something the department didn’t have before – and an interview room for witnesses and others.
The meeting room is far larger than the department previously had. It can seat 27 people and it is outfitted with a ceiling-mounted projector and a drop-down screen. It will be useful for training and for officers who just need to take a break, Rodriguez said.
The room has an oak media cabinet that doubles as a lectern. That furniture, along with some other pieces, was built by inmates at the state correctional facility in Pendleton.
Upstairs is the Monday-through-Friday section of the building, housing administrative offices, the detective bureau and a separate office for a state trooper who deals with crimes against children. The detective bureau houses three Chesterton detectives and one from Porter.
The fitness center, locker rooms and evidence room are also upstairs.
“We were over here all the time” during construction, Rodriguez said. Moving equipment across the street didn’t take long once they were able to occupy the building.
“It’s something we’re really proud of,” he said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
