Officers Rashawn Cowles (left) and Chip Downey, in police headquarters' cramped locker room, get ready for work. Scott Neville

Communications Supervisor Samantha Peterson works at one of four stations while colleagues Lisa Hudson and Andrew Lettner converse. Their small office is a challenge to navigate through. Scott Neville

Administrative Assistant Yvonne Vinson stands in a Fredericksburg Police Department evidence room during her shift yesterday. The small space has become so full that city police are using an overflow room to hold additional criminal evidence. Scott Neville

Fredericksburg's effort to build new police headquarters gets into the details

By ELIZABETH PEZZULLO

Date published: 3/16/2005

On busy days, the tiny booking room and holding cells at the Fredericksburg Police Department are crammed with people.

Only one door leads in and out of the room. And the door is usually kept unlocked so other police officers can rush in, in the event of an emergency.

"There's just not much security," said police spokesman Jim Shelhorse. "You're shoulder to shoulder."

It's just one example of the overcrowded conditions at the Princess Anne Street facility.

But, if things go well, by December 2006, a brand-new, sprawling station will open off Cowan Boulevard behind Hugh Mercer Elementary School.

The city is now in negotiations with First Choice Public-Private Partners L.L.C., to build a new headquarters off Cowan Boulevard.

Preliminary plans call for the new building to be one level and have about 35,000 square feet. It will house all Police Department facilities, which are now scattered around town.

"Having a new facility and everyone together in one building will not just be more convenient for us," Shelhorse said. "But more convenient for the public."

The building will be located on 15 acres behind Hugh Mercer Elementary School.

First Choice is now preparing a detailed design of the headquarters to present to city officials.

The cost of the new building is estimated at $10 million.

About 80 Police Department employees are squeezed into about half the red brick building across from the main post office.

The department shares the building with the General District Courthouse. A room that used to be a supply room for the police department now a records room for court.

Upon entering the building, all guests must be buzzed through a main door.

Once inside, a maze of white, sterile corridors leads to small offices.

Dispatch operators are huddled into a tiny room fielding calls from the public.

The records are kept in an office on Caroline Street due to a lack of space.

And some city detectives were moved into larger office space at the Executive Plaza building on Caroline Street.

City lawmakers have made a new police headquarters a high priority.

Date published: 3/16/2005