Melbourne leaders dedicate $32 million police headquarters to force's lone fallen officer
Two hours before sunrise on Oct. 17, 1986, Melbourne Police Officer Joseph Pellicano was directing traffic near a Sarno Road house fire when he was fatally struck by a Ford pickup.
Pellicano, a patrol officer, was only 29 years old. He was wearing an orange reflective vest and holding a flashlight with a bright-colored cone at the end, FLORIDA TODAY reported days after the tragedy.
To this day, Pellicano remains the only member of the Melbourne Police Department to die in the line of duty.
His legacy will be memorialized. Wednesday morning, city officials conducted a groundbreaking ceremony for the $32 million Joseph Pellicano Law Enforcement Center — the police department's future headquarters — at the northeast corner of NASA Boulevard and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
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Crews are scheduled to finish the two-story, 76,390-square-foot structure by summer 2024, Assistant City Manager Jenni Lamb said. The Category 5 hurricane-hardened building on 14 acres will also house Melbourne's emergency operations center and 911 dispatch center.
The project will combine and consolidate the police department's aging Apollo Boulevard headquarters and its investigations/dispatch facility on Babcock Street, which are separated by about 2 miles.
Airborne mold and water condensation have plagued these undersized facilities in recent years.
“Though the groundbreaking ceremony is being held today, the journey began about five years ago. We began looking at the needed repairs and renovations of our existing police facilities," City Manager Shannon Lewis told the crowd.
"The two buildings that housed the Melbourne Police Department's operations were purchased decades ago, when the city's population was less than half of what it is today," Lewis said.
"After conducting an analysis of the current and anticipated needs, City Council determined that constructing a new facility combining the functions of both buildings would be best to serve the citizens of the city of Melbourne," she said.
Melbourne voters approved a November 2018 police headquarters referendum to finance construction. In sum, 55.4% of voters approved the referendum (18,091 voters), while 44.6% voted no (14,542 voters).
Roughly 250 people attended Wednesday's sun-splashed ceremony, including a variety of Space Coast law enforcement officials and officers, past and present.
Wearing white hardhats, city officials wielding blue-handled chrome shovels turned dirt from a black ceremonial trough, garnering applause. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office helicopter performed a flyover, and an oversized U.S. flag hanging from two Melbourne Fire Department ladder trucks provided a patriotic backdrop.
"I can tell you that our community spoke loudly. Our community supports the police department. They voted in favor of funding this building," Police Chief David Gillespie said at the podium.
"And we couldn't be more proud and more honored to work in a community that values its police department and its police officers. So, thank you. Without that commitment, we would not be here today," Gillespie said.
Bidding snafus delayed the preconstruction process. Initially, three construction firms submitted bids, and City Hall officials opened them in December. But upon review, they determined that the invitation to bid had not been properly advertised according to state law — so the bids were rejected in January, an agenda memo said.
The project was re-advertised for bid in March, and City Hall officials opened bids in May. The Melbourne City Council unanimously approved a $32 million contract to Hedrick Brothers Construction, the lowest of two bidders, on June 14.
Furniture, fixtures and equipment are not included in the construction contract.
Pellicano was directing traffic around two fire engines when the truck fatally struck him at 5:24 a.m., according to the Florida Highway Patrol crash report. The blaze — which was suspected as arson — broke out inside a vacant Sarno Road Home between Wickham and Croton roads, FLORIDA TODAY reported in 1986.
Pellicano had worked for the Melbourne Police Department for 3½ years before his death. Three months after joining the force, he received an Exceptional Service Bar for helping another officer pull a person from a burning building.
He earned a second service bar for helping another officer disarm a dangerous felon. A Police Athletic League coach, he was working toward an associate degree in criminal justice at Brevard Community College.
Melbourne resident Richard Van Velson, a longtime friend of Pellicano and his widow, Marion, described the fallen police officer as a tall, broad-shouldered man with huge hands, size-13 feet, a deep tan and hair so black that you could see blue highlights in the sun.
"I have to think: Being that big in uniform getting out of a squad car, it can be very intimidating. But that was not him. He was there to help people, and that's what he always wanted to do," Van Velson told the crowd.
"He wanted to make them laugh. He wanted them to feel trust. He wanted to give them a second chance if needed, and he wanted to pass along some guidance — even if that happened to be justice," he said.
"Whatever it was, it was given with respect and a genuine desire to make their lives better," he said.
"And I believe that is what is the true description of a police officer," he said, receiving a standing ovation.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne leaders dedicate $32 million police headquarters to Joseph Pellicano
