Bloomington to accept bids starting at $3.2M for city police headquarters

Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton wants to sell the city’s police department headquarters for at least $3.2 million.

The mayor wants to use the proceeds to help fund the police department’s move into the western portion of the Showers Building on Morton Street, which already functions as city hall.

Hamilton has designated the Board of Public Works to obtain bids for the police station between Oct. 13 and Dec. 12. The sale could happen before Dec. 12, though, as the board can recommend at any time during the bidding period that an offer be accepted.

Council OKs purchase: Split city council clashes on Bloomington police HQ future

The property, at 220 E. Third St., consists of four parcels measuring 1.4 acres. It includes a finished parking lot and structure that measures nearly 21,000 square feet, according to city documents. The local police HQ most recently was assessed at nearly $1.5 million, according to the Monroe County GIS system.

Hamilton has said bringing police and fire agencies under the same roof with most other city services, would help modernize public safety facilities. In a Herald-Times column, the mayor said moving police and fire administrations into the Showers building “meets current needs and also positions us well for the future” because the facility offers “room for growth and proximity to other city departments.”

But his plan has generated some controversy, both over substance and style.

The Bloomington City Council in January voted 5-4 to approve spending about $24 million to renovate the western portion of the Showers Building to house police headquarters and city fire department administrative offices.

City council member Dave Rollo said he did not appreciate the mayor presenting the council a take-it-or-leave-it offer under a tight deadline. Rollo’s colleague Susan Sandberg said she didn’t buy the mayor’s rationale for moving the city and police offices.

The council’s discussion about the Showers purchase was colored by the national debate about police brutality against non-white residents and the push, among some, to address those issues — or at least to do so with more urgency.

Meanwhile, police officers have voiced concerns about the Showers Building’s safety and access.

BPD officer and police union President Paul Post said early this year the historic Showers building’s glass façade cannot protect police officers and road access constraints will increase emergency response times. City leaders including police Chief Mike Diekhoff, however, said the officers’ concerns could be addressed.

Pushback: Bloomington officers oppose Hamilton plan for new police station at Showers Building

Post said via email Wednesday that many of the police officers' concerns remain. Additionally, police officers now worry whether the city will have enough money to finance some needed improvements to the building.

"We still have not seen extremely detailed drawings with exact square footage, only general drawings of where rooms may go," Post said. "We know that the interior demolition and reconstruction will run well past the previous estimates, some of which were labeled 'light renovations', so we have financial concerns that remain."

In addition, Post said, "The financial estimates ... have not included all of the required exterior work that will be needed. Things like fencing, security upgrades to the parking garage, an upgraded generator system and the large radio tower for safe communication. Those are things that cannot just be left for later, and should be included in the financial information being given to the City Council and the public."

Board of Works Director Adam Wason said this week that if the board receives an offer it deems acceptable, it would forward the information to the city council, which would have the final say.

Any new owner of the building would not be able to take possession until the police HQ has moved into the Showers Building.

In its notice for the sale, the city said it is “interested in developers who will use the property in a way that supports the character of the city’s downtown as directed by its Unified Development Ordinance … and the city’s adopted Comprehensive Plan,” which can be found at https://tinyurl.com/yc3rmb4u.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington to sell police station to finance move to Showers Building