What will Palmetto’s police station look like? Chief thinks it should look like a library

The existing Palmetto police stattion, built in the 1960s, is crumbling.

But before the first shovel of dirt is turned for a new one, police want the public’s input on possible designs that will be in touch with the community around the building.

About a dozen people, including some city commissioners, went to the Palmetto Public Library Tuesday night for a short presentation and to give their feedback.

The building is being planned for the site of the former Palmetto Elementary School, off Seventh Street West.

While there are a laundry list of wishes for the design of the building, Palmetto Police Chief Scott Tyler said he hopes to draw cues, such as the texture, brick and color for the design, from the Carnegie Library.

“I was looking for something iconic,” Tyler said.

Palmetto resident Barbara Gard attended the presentation and said she liked Tyler’s thoughts on resembling the Carnegie Library.

“It fits into the area better,” Gard said.

Jim Freeman, city clerk, said he wants the design to maintain the character and feel of Palmetto.

Fred Rambo, vice president of Architectural Design Group (AGD), has been working with police to design the new building based of on the needs of police. He addressed the group gathered in the room.

Currently, Rambo said, the department’s building is woefully undersized with multiple functions happening in places they shouldn’t be. He pointed out that report writing and briefings are often held in the same room. In concepts for the new department, they are looking to separate those spaces.

Designers are also planning for new evidence lockers and records storage options in addition to a more secure server room.

Following their comments, one resident in the crowd apologized to the police department for the conditions they have been working in for years, encouraging them to “turn some dirt” as soon as possible.

Gard also acknowledged the need for a new police station.

“The building is not in good shape, we need the building,” Gard said.

Rambo said they hope to begin construction in the summer of 2020, with a goal of having the building occupied by 2021.

The goal, Tyler said in a July 24 presentation to city commissioners, is to incorporate modern policing and safety into the design of a building that would be able to withstand strong storms that Florida is subject to every hurricane season.

He hopes the new building will have a lobby area with a separate room large enough to hold public meetings or other events — a room he specifically wanted public input on. Logical work flow and like functions being designed together and other efficiencies are also on Tyler’s list of desired internal designs.

Security is also a concern.

“There’s a lot of design features that are going to go into this building that you may not notice,” Tyler said. “What we’re looking for is certainly your feedback about what this building should look like and maybe some of the things that may be designing for what might go on inside the building. Then it will be our challenge to make this a very secure, very purpose-built building that is something that the community can be proud of.”

The currently proposed one-story building is expected to be about 23,000 square-feet, about 1,300 of which will be for storage, and there is some space allotted in the site for possible future additions to the department.

Tyler said one example of an area they expect to see grow over time is storage needed property and evidence.

The currently estimated cost for the new building is around $8.3 million. City commissioners previously allocated $6 million from a half-cent sales tax revenue for the project.

The city has talked about selling land, including the old police department, to secure those additional funds.

Prior to Tuesday night’s community input meeting, Rambo gave the same presentation to city commissioners July 24.

In a general consensus, commissioners decided the new building will be constructed in the northeast corner of the site. The city hopes to also use some of the land for other municipal buildings in the future. The city paid Manatee County School District $1.4 million for the 8-acre space last year.

Commissioner Harold Smith had some concerns in the July 24 meeting about accessibility for officers from the department to the streets surrounding the building. Commissioner Tambra Varadore noted they could make improvements to Ninth Street if needed, but that would have to be factored into the budget.

Rambo noted that accessibility is a valid concern and said they would take extreme care to be mindful of possible ingress or egress issues going forward with the design. Tuesday, he said there are three ways in and out of the proposed secure parking center.

“(Access to) 10th Avenue allows us to get to all corners of the city pretty quickly,” Tyler said Tuesday.

The public access to the building will face Ninth Street West.

But Gard said she would like to see the city purchase the lots that are between the site of the future police building and Eighth Avenue, so it’s even more accessible from another busy road.

Another meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday night in the Palmetto Youth Center, 501 17th St W.

This story was originally published July 31, 2019 at 7:43 AM.