Two city-owned sites in the final running for Tallahassee Police Department HQ

City commissioners have settled on two locations that they find suitable for a new Tallahassee Police Department headquarters.

Both owned by the city, the recently purchased Northwood Centre and the old wastewater treatment plant on Lake Bradford Road were the final two locations approved in a unanimous vote at Wednesday’s meeting.

Back story: 

• City ponders future of Northwood Centre after snagging it at auction for $6.8 million
• All-call for TPD sites ends, Northwood Centre tops submission list

The hunt for a TPD site has ramped up in the last year after commissioners in February abandoned plans to repurpose a shopping plaza along the South Monroe-Orange Avenue corridor. 

Resurrecting the Towne South shopping plaza as an alternative was a point of contention Wednesday with supporters saying that relocating the police station there would be an economic catalyst for the area.

Christic Henry, a south side advocate with the Capital Area Neighborhood Network, said a police station there could provide opportunities for employment, health, education and a path to home ownership, she said.

“It’s a philosophy of economic development at war with peoples’ idea of economic development,” Henry said. “What a game changer that would be for the South Side community.”

Sylvia Hubbard with the Minority Alliance for Advocating Community Awareness and Action spoke on the other side of the issue.

“All of this money that is distributed throughout Tallahassee, and the only thing you can bring that’s going to (raise) the value of the land, solve the crime on the south side is the police station," she said. "Really?”

All five commissioners balked at spending more than $5 million to buy a property when there are several already publicly owned.

The final locations of the police station came from a list of 68 submitted by the public earlier this year. That list was whittled to 10 and a final three presented Wednesday. Towne South was not among them.

“Is that really going to spark the economic revitalization we’re looking for on the South Side?” asked Mayor John Dailey following more than 20 speakers. “I am not going to support Towne South for the potential location of the police station.”

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.

Citizen engagement will continue to drive the site selection process. A community meeting will be held for each site to garner additional input from neighbors, as well as the community at large.

Additionally, during this stage of the process, preliminary site layouts and in-depth evaluations will be completed. Staff will then present a summary of findings, including a preliminary cost analysis, and seek direction from the City Commission on the final site selection. After authorization has been received, the architect will develop conceptual drawings of the new TPD headquarters.