Santa Barbara’s new $92 million police station project is expected to pass a key stage on Tuesday.
The City Council will vote on a $4.5 million design services contract with the Cearnal Collective and approve and make environmental findings at its 2 p.m. meeting.
“The current police station was built in 1959, and does not accommodate accessibility or modern seismic safety standards,” said Interim Police Chief Marylinda Arroyo. “Additionally, it is too small for the growth in department staff, as well as technology and functions. We need this new building as soon as practically possible.”
The current police station at 215 E. Figueroa St. needs a seismic upgrade, and has soil contamination in the parking lot, and multiple plumbing and electrical infrastructure deficiencies.
The city leases three other buildings to house its police services.
Santa Barbara has been struggling for more than two decades to figure out a way to build a new police station. A bond measure for that purpose was rejected by voters in 1999.
The project has had many starts and stops since then, but the passage of Measure C, a 1% sales tax increase, created a revenue stream to help build the facility.
The new headquarters, at the corner of Cota and Santa Barbara streets, calls for a three-story, 53-foot-high, 65,000-square-foot structure, and an 86,000-square-foot-parking structure with 236 parking spaces.
Emergency service antennas would be installed on the roof of the parking structure. Eight additional vehicle surface parking spaces and four bicycle parking spaces would be provided for visitors.
A total of 23 Tipuana tipu trees and 12 oak trees would be removed; nine Tipuana tipu trees would be protected.
The existing MTD bus stop shelter on Cota Street would be relocated along Cota Street, and the existing plaques commemorating the old Lincoln School would also be relocated and incorporated into the project.
Bradley Hess, the station’s project planner, said the plan so far has been funded through Measure C.
“The plan is to have a bond measure to cover the cost of construction,” Hess said. “The process for that will be started in about six months from now.”
Construction is expected to take about 28 months.
“At this time, we are anticipating starting construction in early 2024, and completing the building in mid-2026,” Hess said. “As with any public project of this size, these dates are subject to change.”
Overall the estimated cost of the project could be $92 million, Hess said, but “there are some wild things going on in our world market today that affect pricing — energy, materials, labor, inflation, interest rates.
Mayor Randy Rowse recalled that the city has been trying to build a new station since the 1990s. The city reviewed 11 different sites before selecting the Cota commuter lot. He noted that the current building “doesn’t live up to the modern standards for an ‘essential’ building.”
He recalled that the basement of the building at one time had exposed pipes that he had to duck to avoid hitting his head. Dispatchers have since moved, but for years they worked in a space that contributed to low morale. The offices were so small there wasn’t even room for furniture.
It’s a public safety issue for the officers, Rowse said.
“We have owed this to our police force for a long, long time,” Rowse said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.