Groundbreaking construction that has been called by some as being "long overdue," started last week at what will be the site of the new 5,000 square foot police station in the borough.
Considering the current station is 1,500 square feet, the change will be a big one and is looked forward to by members of the department.
"Right now the guys have lockers they can’t fit a shirt in," said Police Chief Joseph Fasulo. "They aren’t wide or have the depth enough to put a hanger in and they have no place to wash, shower or change their clothes." Fasulo said the new structure, which will have a basement with locker rooms and showers, will change that.
Architect Joe Cecco said the one level building will have a large dispatch center, radio tower, two jail cells, a booking area and a "sally port" for secure transfer of prisoners.
The sally port enables a police car to pull into a garage and, upon closing of the garage door, the prisoner can be taken through a door to the booking area for processing and lockup.
"The state Department of Corrections has approved that portion of the building," said Cecco. This is one notable difference from the current police station, which only has a detention room requiring the prisoner to be handcuffed.
The basement will consist of men’s and women’s locker rooms, a shower, toilet and exercise area as well as evidence and gun lockers.
The location between the municipal and Department of Public Works (DPW) buildings makes for a "total complex with Police, Fire departments and the DPW," said Cecco.
Fasulo said centralizing the emergency services would be another advantage of the move.
The current station, located at 247 Old Tappan Road, was built in the 1920s and was originally a one-room schoolhouse. Plans for upgrading the station have been in the works for "several years," said Cecco. Originally an addition to the existing building was proposed but it was decided that putting a new addition on such an old structure would not "be appropriate," he said.
The revamped station will be a colonial building, similar to the municipal building. A parking lot with five or six spaces for visitors will be in front of the police station, said Cecco, and one for headquarters personnel will consist of approximately 12 spaces behind the structure.
Fasulo said the extra space will be a "notable improvement," enabling new technology to be used, training to be conducted in a designated room, extra room to store evidence and overall improved facilities for the force.
"Things will run smoother. Right now we have files all over the place and storage is transferred to the DPW’s unheated garage. This will all be moved back to the basement for file storage," he said.
Cecco expects construction to be completed in approximately eight months, depending on weather. The contract was awarded to DiCarlois Associates, of Hackensack for $2,962,050. Plans for the existing police building are still to be determined.
