Demolition begins on 98-year-old police station torn down for new Kent city hall
As a child, Kent Mayor Jerry Fiala remembers going to Kent's old police station to buy a dog license and later took his first oath of office there in what was then council chambers in 1985.
On Monday, he watched as contractors began demolition of the structure to make way for Kent's new city hall.
"It's sad to see it go because there's a lot of memories," he said. "At the same time, we're looking forward to having a new, state-of-the-art building. Times have changed and we've got to do what we've got to do."
More: Police station gets a new look
The structure, built in 1924, has been vacant since 2018, when the police department moved to a newly constructed building on South DePeyster Street. The previous city hall and associated offices were demolished to make way for the 345 Flats apartment complex about the time the police station was built, and city offices have been spread throughout the city ever since.
Once the structure is built, people will be able to go to the building to meet with city officials, obtain building permits and attend city council meetings.
More: A look inside the new Kent police station
"We're going back to running things efficiently," he said.
Demolition begins
Service Director Melanie Baker said demolition of most of the above-ground structure is expected to be complete this week. However, because the three-story structure includes a basement that must be removed, the demolition is not expected to be fully complete until sometime in April.
Monday's demolition drew a number of onlookers, including several city employees. Fiala, Baker and the city's police and fire chiefs all took turns observing the demolition.
Construction of the new building is expected to quickly follow in May, and take 571 days, with a tentative completion date of August 2023. However, Baker said some materials are still delayed, and a number of factors could delay construction and push up that date.
The total project cost, including demolition, is $8.797 million.
Part of Kent history
The structure at 241 S. Water St. was built in 1924 as the city fire station. The police moved into the building in 1930. Over the years, a number of additions were built. At one time, city council hosted meetings there and even after those meetings relocated, a number of city officials continued to work from the building.
Fiala said he remembers the building as a "one-stop shop" where water bills could be paid, permits and dog licenses could be obtained, and people could get police reports and go to a city council meeting.
Police Chief Nick Shearer said the structure was the police station when he was first hired 14 years ago.
"It's got a lot of memories," he said of the structure. "But we desperately needed to be out of there."
During demolition and construction, there may be some lane and road closures on the streets surrounding the building, city officials have warned.
New city hall
Fiala said the new city hall will be "state-of-the-art" and will finally house city offices in a central location. The city worked with Brandstetter Carroll Inc. to develop plans for the building.
The new structure, Fiala said, will include some bricks from the old building in its façade.
Baker commended council for the work they put into making the new city hall happen.
"It's extremely exciting to see this building coming down so progress can move forward," she said.
Fiala said although the cost of borrowing money for the building has gone down, the pandemic and labor shortage stand to drive up costs and bring delays.
He said he's looking forward to seeing city offices centralized once again.
"We won't all be spread out all over the place," he said.
Reporter Diane Smith, who found out about the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the building at 241 S. Water Street, can be reached at dsmith@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Kent's 98-year-old police station torn down for new city hall
