dec-2017

54 55 a committee of Albany residents, businesses, and political leaders to review the facility needs of the police and fire departments. The committee pro- posed a funding package, and architects produced preliminary drawings of how new buildings might look. A newmeasure went back to voters in May 2015 and passed. The new police facility is designed for 20-year growth and a 50-year build-out. At 40,000 square feet, it is nearly four times the size of the building it replaces. Police personnel moved into the new building in December. Total construction costs for both new buildings came to $26,288,500, $18 mil- lion of which comes fromAlbany taxpayers through general obligation bonds. The Carousel and the new fire station anchor opposite corners of Albany’s historic downtown, connected by the Streetscape Improvements Project. Combined with the opening of the new police sta- tion, the transformation of Albany,Oregon, is right on track. “It’s going to be pretty impressive once it’s all done,” says Jeff Blaine, the City’s PublicWorks Engineering & Community Development Director. Pretty impressive, indeed. main station. Bradner adds that the 67-year-old Station 11 was not seismically sound, nor did it have adequate emergency power. The old station was built in 1949, before construction design criteria strongly considered the potential for earthquakes. One quarter of Albany’s emergency response forces worked from that station, causing concern for the department and the community. “In addition, the old building was inadequately connected to emergency power,”Bradner said. Ret- rofitting would have been extensive and expensive. “The goal was to create a new building that could be sustainable for at least another 60 years, if not 75 to 100 years, and to create a station that met all of our needs.”The modern, 25,000-square-foot facil- ity, replacing the old 15,000-square-foot station that was demolished in the summer of 2016, opened in October 2017. “We brought back all of our admin- istrative and support services and the Life Safety Division together with one quarter of our emergen- cy response force,” says Bradner. “As early as 2002, there was a need established for a new police station; the current facility is way too small,” says Police Chief Mario Lattanzio. “One of the things that happened is Albany annexed North Albany,which added 6,000 new residents. When that occurred,we already were maxed out. So, for the last 15 years, they’ve been working on trying to come up with a way to replace the police station and the downtown fire station. In 2009, the City purchased about 3.69 acres for a future spot for the police station, but didn’t have the funding, at that time, to build it.” The City asked local voters for funding to build both public safety buildings in 2013, but the mea- sure failed. The City Council then pulled together ALBANY, OREGON n Albany Visitors Association www.albanyvisitors.com The Willamette Valley is renowned for its wine and food pairings.The crown jewel, our region’s vineyards,wonWine Enthusiast magazine’s “Number One Wine Region of 2016”— an international honor.We invite you to visit us at the Albany Visitors Association for more area delights.Telephone 541-928- 0911. n Emery & Sons Construction, Inc. www.emeryandsons.com PREFERRED VENDORS