THPD finally gets new home

Oct. 16—The new headquarters for the Terre Haute Police Department is full of history.

The last 150 years of public safety in the city are documented in the historic photos and memorabilia on display in the newly renovated building at 222 S. Seventh St.

Mayor Duke Bennett and Police Chief Shawn Keen cut the ribbon on the new THPD headquarters Friday morning. Then they opened the building for tours to show the long-awaited and appropriately designed police station that the city's police force has wanted since its 1867 inception with six officers.

"Every single piece of this has a method to the madness, a why it's where it is, and how it's going to be utilized to make our officers much more efficient in what they do and to serve the public better," Bennett said in congratulating Keen on the planning and execution of the project.

"This is one of the most exciting things I've done in my 14 years, and I couldn't be any happier for our Terre Haute Police Department," the mayor said.

Keen thanked Mayor Bennett for seeing the project through to completion.

Since 2004, THPD had been located on Wabash Avenue in a former bank building, which was really three late-800s buildings cobbled together.

In 2015, city leaders began talking in earnest about building a new police station on the parking lot south of the Wabash Avenue headquarters. Economic stress hit city government, however, so the plans were shelved until 2019, when the initiative was revived.

By that time, the Tribune-Star newspaper was downsizing from its location on South Seventh Street, and the suggestion was made for the police station to move into that building, built in 1997.

"It made more sense to buy this building and remodel it because we were going to save about a million dollars and pick up 10,000 square feet of building," the mayor said. "From a business perspective it made perfect sense to do this."

Bennett said the 45,000-square-foot building cost about $11 million with property acquisition, remodeling and furnishing included.

"We came out of this so much better from that perspective," Bennett said.

The project cost will be paid off in 20 years, he added.

The tours began in the THPD lobby, which is accessible from both Seventh and Eighth streets.

The lobby is hardened with ballistic glass and panels, which allows both the east and west lobby doors to remain unlocked while still providing security and protection to police staff.

The public can access the records, code enforcement and traffic departments through the lobby, Keen said, so about 90 percent of the public's business with THPD can be accomplished in the lobby.

Keen estimated about 100 people access the police station each day for records, background checks for jobs and other services provided by the police department.

"This area will get well-used," he said.

Also accessible from the lobby is a 40-person meeting room that can be used by community organizations. The room is secured from the rest of the department.

"This is one of the things we look at as far as our community policing efforts to get the public more involved with the building, and feel more comfortable and improve that relationship with the public," Keen said.

A backup server and consoles for the county's 911 dispatch are stored near that room. In case of a failure at the main dispatch center at the county jail, the server and consoles can be brought into the police department meeting room to temporarily relocate central dispatch. It is a partnership with the county, which paid for the backup location.

The building includes multiple rooms for training, meetings and conferences. The criminal investigations division (the detectives) is located on the second floor, as is the administrative area.

The building is technologically state-of-the-art, with cameras covering every foot indoors and outdoors. Scanning of evidence, badges and vehicles will streamline recordkeeping.

The patrol division is located on the ground floor, which has a sally port for police vehicles and secure access to the facility. A fenced parking lot south of the building is secured for patrol vehicles.

The basement of the building, which was previously unfinished, securely houses the evidence rooms, crime lab and armory. It also has locker rooms, an exercise area, and a defensive tactics training room.

Donations and photos from the city's Police and Fire Museum, the Vigo County Historical Society, and the Vigo County Public Library are displayed throughout the building.

Keen selected photos to reproduce and enlarge. Those range from the early days to the current era and show THPD officers on the job and in the community.

A large timeline showing the history of the department is displayed inside a refurbished frame found at the Police and Fire Museum.

Badges from the 1890s, old hats, log books and other items will be in display cabinets.

Walking through the hallways, Keen said school children getting a tour of the building will be able to see the photos of the old cars, officers and history of the department.

"There's a lot of history in this building," he said.

The operations of THPD will officially move to the new location on Monday, Keen said.

Throughout the day, officers will remove their computers and equipment from the old location and get plugged in at the new building.

A memorial for fallen officers will be put in place at the Seventh Street entrance to the building. Bronze statues of Officer Brent Long and Officer Rob Pitts will be installed this fall, Keen said.

One special memento that the officers asked to bring to the new location is an enormous granite boulder that sat outside the Wabash Avenue location.

"The Rock" was often an outdoor gathering point for officers to chat and take a break.

"The officers had an attachment to that rock," Keen said.

Keen said he was unsure that moving The Rock could be accomplished, but he was pleased that the landscaping company, Precision Lawncare, relocated the massive rock at the end of September to a prominent place near the front lot.

Keen said the family of recently fallen officer Detective Greg Ferency has suggested a bench might be an appropriate addition near The Rock.

As for the soon-to-be-vacant headquarters on Wabash Avenue, Mayor Bennett said it will take some time to move, discard and dismantle items remaining in the deteriorating building. He hopes, however, that it will be demolished by the end of the year.

Bennett said private property development companies have already expressed interest in acquiring the Wabash Avenue property, and he hopes to sell the city-owned lots for development that will eventually add to the city's tax rolls.

Lisa Trigg can be reached at 812-231-4254 or at lisa.trigg@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter at TribStarLisa.