By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
As the official opening of the new Great Bend Police Department station
gets closer, Chief Steve Haulmark said the plan is to slowly move items from
the current station on Williams Street. Haulmark recently completed a tour of
20,100 square-foot facility being built and said staff is excited about the new
interview rooms, locker room, larger and more efficient evidence room and just
overall expanded space.
The station, at the intersection of 12th Street & Baker Avenue,
is being built on the city-owned parking lot that has residential houses across
the street to the east.
"The architect we hired took light pollution into consideration," said Haulmark. "The builders, prior to getting into the project, knocked on the doors to talk with some folks. We didn't get any negative feedback. We've made efforts to reach out to all those folks."
With traffic at the 12th and Baker intersection a possible hazard, Haulmark
did mention city officials have discussed either making Baker Avenue,
in front of the station, a permanent one-way street or placing stop signs at
the intersection.
The $8.8 million project is expected to be move-in ready sometime in September.