The complex is set for construction on a nearly three acre lot of land across from Delaware Technical Community College.
The new building will replace two buildings: the Georgetown police station, a repurposed button factory originally acquired in 1991, and the Public Works Department facility, which has been in use in its current form since 1977.
Georgetown Mayor Bill West expects the new building to help with police officer recruitment.
“When anybody that wants to be a police officer walks into the old building, they’ll say ‘I don’t want to be here.’ But, you give them the up-to-date equipment, the up-to-date building, and something they can be proud of? You get people, and recruiting really steps up.” he told DPM.
Georgetown Police Chief Ralph Holm Jr. says he originally didn’t think he’d be around to see the building, but credits teamwork and Steve Silver of the developer ONIX group for an expedited timeline.
“That man is a taskmaster, and has a good vision, and he organizes well, and he pushes people to deliver. That plan that was going to be 10 years became, very quickly, 2 years." he said.
Holm Jr. says the department will hit full capacity for the first time in some 15 years once four police academy candidates graduate.
The building will cost the city no more than 17 million dollars, according to West. He says they secured bonds to cover that cost, and the final price tag may be lower.
Holm says the new police station will address weaknesses in the current facility, including restrooms for those in custody and a sallyport for officers.
Construction on the new building is expected to be completed by December 2026.
