By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The keys to the new Great Bend Police Department will be turned over to
staff by Sept. 1. Police Chief Steve Haulmark said
McCownGordon Construction is slightly ahead of schedule as crews are completing
the roof on the 20,100 square-foot facility.
The $8.8 million project, at 12th Street and Baker Avenue, will
provide Haulmark and the rest of his staff with improved amenities like a much
bigger evidence room.
"We're going to have a drying cabinet in the evidence room," said Haulmark. "If you had a piece of clothing that was wet and you wanted to dry it out before putting it away, it would go in this cabinet, especially made for that. We'll also have different tools for analyzing fingerprints."
Named the Great Bend Justice Center, the Police Department will share the building
with Municipal Court. Haulmark was excited about a larger briefing room that
will accommodate the officers’ lockers.
"We're going from having a very small briefing room where you can't fit both shifts when there is shift change, to a nice room that will double as a training room," said Haulmark. "When we're hosting training we can move the tables and do stuff in there. That's one of the bigger ticket items for us."
The Justice Center is funded primarily by the .10% sales tax increase approved
in November 2021 by a vote. The new police station will replace the current
structure on Williams Street that was built in 1938.