Police Headquarters

[UnFrSaKn]

[template=]
development
|category1=Civic Buildings
|category2=Central Business District
|category3=Office Buildings
|category4=Current
|
|project=
|address=700 Colcord
|status=under construction
|owner=City of OKC
|cost=$22 million
|architect=ADG
|start=December 2013
|finish=
|contractor=
|height=
|sq. feet=
|acerage=1.25
|other=
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|image=
|
[/template]
Information & Latest News

1/28/14: Work begins
9/23/13: $20 million building permit
9/10/13: Construction to start on new Police HQ
Links

Gallery

[bombermwc]

I'd vote for it....i'd love to see a new county building as well. The current buildings are sorely inadequate and once they are replaced, should be dozed...except for any of the Deco stuff of course.

[Midtowner]

Actually, the County office building works fine and is full of empty or underutilized space. There are large parts of several floors that aren't even finished out, the clerk's records could be digitized and warehoused or disposed of and most of the 2nd floor would be free again. The facade could use some work, but I don't really get too concerned about the facade of our county office building. There are bigger fish to fry.

If I could choose, I'd move the criminal courts down to a new building which would adjoin the Jail. That'd free up a lot of courtrooms for new civil and family judges which are sorely needed. There's also a jail facility on the top floors of the courthouse which actually has a couple of floors used for records storage and only one (which I've been in) which is used to hold prisoners on their court dates. Plenty of wasted space there as well.

[MikeOKC]

A new OCPD headquarters is wayyy overdue. It's an embarrassment.

[RealEstateCop1]

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City city council has approved a plan to build a new police department building downtown.

Council members voted unanimously for the project which also involves building a court plaza downtown.

The project has a 50-million dollar price tag and now the council is trying to figure out how to pay for it all. It said part of cost will be covered through a bond issue.

As for the remainder, council members are looking at several possible options.


from News9.com

[RealEstateCop1]

Actually, the County office building works fine and is full of empty or underutilized space. There are large parts of several floors that aren't even finished out, the clerk's records could be digitized and warehoused or disposed of and most of the 2nd floor would be free again. The facade could use some work, but I don't really get too concerned about the facade of our county office building. There are bigger fish to fry.

If I could choose, I'd move the criminal courts down to a new building which would adjoin the Jail. That'd free up a lot of courtrooms for new civil and family judges which are sorely needed. There's also a jail facility on the top floors of the courthouse which actually has a couple of floors used for records storage and only one (which I've been in) which is used to hold prisoners on their court dates. Plenty of wasted space there as well.

The plumbing on two of the floors of the jail in the courthouse doesn't work that's why its used for storage space. Also the county building has asbestos in the ceiling and throughout the building. We have way too many civil judges that don't do anything, while the criminal judges are over worked and don't have enough space in some of there courtroom to hold there docket in. Moving the state courts closer to the jail would be a great idea but I don't think it will ever happen because of money. The courthouse has had a lot of updating in the past several years such as plumbing, Electric, and HVAC. They (the County) at one time was thinking of building a judicial complex and a new jail but I think the cost was way too much. I do agree there is a ton of wasted space up there.

[Pete]

Here are a couple of renderings.

I believe the first one is the police HQ and the second would be the courthouse.

[kevinpate]

my eyes aren't coping well with the tiny image at 9. Was it said where they will build? I assume in the same general area, but I am curious.

[Rover]

If they build it close to where it is now, maybe the city could build a parking garage for it and share it with the Civic Center. That would help during events. Otherwise, it looks to have a planned surface parking lot.

[Pete]

The proposal is to build the courthouse just to the north of the current complex and the police HQ to the south. Then, they would tear down the old one inbetween.

And I agree Rover, once that is razed it would be a good site for a multi-level garage.

[reverend]

About time they replaced the OCPD headquarters. Have you ever walked by and looked at the building from the West? When the temporary bus terminal was in the parking lot east of the county jail, there were boarded up windows and the place looked like junk. Haven't seen it lately, but I doubt it is any better now.

[Larry OKC]

No new general obligation bond issue to pay for this for another 6 years:
http://www.okc.gov/bonds2007/

The bonds are projected to be sold over a 10-year period, from 2008-2017.

Most of the funding WAS secured in the 2007 G.O. bond (all measures easily passed)
http://www.okc.gov/bonds2007/BondSec...%207%20(POLICE)

PROPOSITION 7 (POLICE) ($41,200,000 )
The police headquarters and courts complex, built in 1964, is in dire need of renovation to address plumbing, electrical, air and space concerns. The three-story building will be renovated to better serve officers and staff. Proposition 7 also includes funds for a police briefing station in southwest Oklahoma City and a new detox facility.

Read more: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-coun...#ixzz1ZrpxrmHt

But the council will still have work to do once it decides if and how to go about renovating or replacing the buildings, because they aren't yet funded. ... Police officials hoped for funds to be included in a 2007 general obligation bond issue, but the city council did not include enough money for an expansive renovation or replacement in the package presented to voters.

Not exactly true, most of the funding ($41,200,000) WAS approved by the voters in the 2007 G.O. bond issue, so they ARE funded. If they plan on using additional bonds, can't do that for another 6 years as the 07 one was a 10 year issue and doesn't end until 2017. Better build it now, when the construction costs are relatively low. If they wait another 6 years for the bond and who knows how long after it passes (projects can be 10 years out from passage), costs will have increased even more. In other words they will be in the same boat they are in now. They probably could have built it for the amount passed if they had done it 4 years ago! Plus aren't sales tax revenues way ahead of projections? Unless they have already spent that money, there should be enough to make up for the current "shortfall"???

[BoulderSooner]

thanks for looking that up Larry .. i thought i remembered that in the bond issue

[bombermwc]

Actually, the County office building works fine and is full of empty or underutilized space. There are large parts of several floors that aren't even finished out, the clerk's records could be digitized and warehoused or disposed of and most of the 2nd floor would be free again. The facade could use some work, but I don't really get too concerned about the facade of our county office building. There are bigger fish to fry.

Um no. As someone else mentioned, it's complete crap from top to bottom. Not to mention the fact that every square inch of the place is the same as it was in the 50's when they built the thing. The police station is waaaaaaaay better off than the county building.

[Spartan]

I agree with Midtowner. I would put the county offices in the absolute worst office space available downtown. I would then find the runner-up to that glorious building, and put the police department there. But coming up with an extra $9 million to get a shiny new edifice somewhere else downtown isn't too bad of a deal if it really is needed...

[wschnitt]

I agree with Midtowner. I would put the county offices in the absolute worst office space available downtown. I would then find the runner-up to that glorious building, and put the police department there. But coming up with an extra $9 million to get a shiny new edifice somewhere else downtown isn't too bad of a deal if it really is needed...

You want to renovate those two buildings or just occupy them as is? Is this sarcastic?

[Spartan]

Well if you want my real opinion, I think they should occupy those buildings as-is and donate the funds for a new facility to the Emerson Alternative School or to the Little Flower Catholic Church down on S. Walker... but I am NOT surprised that they're going to get a new police HQ after all. I was surprised we had our priorities right in the first place even though the study came back suggesting they spend a lot more money on a new facility. I guess they were trying to pinch pennies to get the bond issue passed. Now the FOP will be enormous hypocrites next time they oppose more quality of life spending...

I am a little tired of all this guns and badges spending when we have terrible police force overlap, all these departments (county, city, suburbs, et al.) are extraordinarily well-equipped, and yet we have the worst school and health system in the NATION. There are like 80 prisons under construction or in planning in Oklahoma right now. Everyone in the state is probably spending more on prisons than on schools right now. How could someone who cares about that NOT be weary by now? Let's just face it. This is an issue that when it comes to it, Okies just suck. I don't know what these people are thinking.

But I would really hate for any cops making $55,000/year, driving brand-new interceptors, with incredible benefits packages that bring their taxpayer cost up to $80k, to have to work in a building that is over 40 years old. That would really be embarrassing, more so than South OKC's teenage pregnancy rate...

[bombermwc]

Seriously? You just made no sense. Trimming annual budget is not related to bond issues. Bonds are one time payments....meaning you don't staff with them. You pay for things like this....capital. So saying the FOP is a hypocritical group makes no sense.

I would agree that the overlap is bad on the police force, but I blame the Sherrif's department, not OCPD. We have more officers than ever, and more people in jail than ever. But in case you missed it, crime is at the lowest point in the recorded history of man as well. Especially violent crime. And that's been proven in study after study recently. And your little rant about Okies, not cool man. Just because you go visit somewhere doesn't mean your opinion now comes from on high either, it gets old.

And if you knew anything about the officers (don't call them cops), you wouldn't say that either. They sure don't start at 55, they often start working the night shift so they don't get to see their families. They DON'T all have new cars, but the next time you want an officer to respond to a call at your house, i think you'll be happy that they aren't driving the raggad crap jallopies they had in the late 80's and early 90's. Yeah they have a pretty good benefits package like the fire department. But anyone that wears a bullet proof vest on a daily basis probably deserves that kind of assistance....just ask Katie Lawson about that one (and just for the record, she and I went to the same Elementary, Jr. High, and High school and are only 1 or 2 years apart). Although I was never personal friends with her, she is friends with some of my friends. I would say her recent experience shows that a lot of what they get is warranted. But of course you know better as youre currently visiting another city that does everything better than us stupid okies.

[UptownGirl]

It seems that the City Council proposal is for a new municipal court building. I don't think that will have any bearing on our Oklahoma County Courthouse.

[Just the facts]

Would it kill them to be a little more ambitious and historical with their designs?

Here is the new Duval County Courthouse currently under construction here in Jax and the Orange County Courthouse that opened in Orlando a few years ago.

[CurtisJ]

Would it kill them to be a little more ambitious and historical with their designs?

Just because its a goverment building doesn't mean it has to be a copy of a copy of a bad copy of greek architecture. I understand the notion of classism in government and that all of our political foundations lie in ancient greece and blah blah blah, but I hate the tendency to mimic the past (often poorly) using technology of the present. The current renderings might not be the most architecturally significant work done in the last decade, but at least it features function over facade. You can keep your nonstructural columns in jax.

[Bellaboo]

I kind of like the columns, but then again, i'm going to Rome, Messina, Athens and Ephesus next week.

To each his own -

[Just the facts]

The current renderings might not be the most architecturally significant work done in the last decade, but at least it features function over facade.

Why can't something be nice and functional? The proposed design so far looks like it could be lcoated in any generic office park. Civic buildings are supposed to be held to a little higher standard - they represent the people. They should by majestic and inspiring.

[CurtisJ]

Why can't something be nice and functional? The proposed design so far looks like it could be lcoated in any generic office park. Civic buildings are supposed to be held to a little higher standard - they represent the people. They should by majestic and inspiring.

I see nothing wrong with making the building majestic and inspiring, I just don't find mock ancient architecture to be inspiring in the least. I would love to take a trip to rome and greece for the architecture, the difference is, the columns on the Parthenon, actually served a purpose. There is a difference between finding beauty in function and slapping up fake collumns all around a building because "thats how a government building is supposed to look". I find a building much more inspiring when it is innovative, rather than regurgitated. Would you try to "dress up" a modern day car to make it look like a horse and buggy?

[CurtisJ]

Either way, more construction => more density, so it is something to be optomistic about.