KANNAPOLIS — Consultants working on a plan for a new city hall and police station said on Monday that 6 acres the city bought in 1998 for the facilities may not be enough land to suit Kannapolis’ growing needs.
Consultants from LS3P and Wilson Estes turned to City Council for their members’ opinions about what shape the new facilities should take. They’ll present a final report, including a master plan and cost estimates, in February.
A couple of issues that got a lot of discussion were whether all operations should be housed under one roof and whether land the city owns on and around the U.S. post office site is enough.
The city has hired LS3P, a Charlotte firm that specializes in administration buildings, and Wilson Estes, a Kansas company that focuses mainly on police stations, to determine how much space the city will need.
The consultants said the plan will meet the city’s needs for the next 20 years, including space to accommodate a growing staff and police force.
The city now rents its administrative office space, the police station and a separate building for the department’s Criminal Investigation Division from Atlantic American Properties.
The city bought the post office site and other land from Atlantic American in 1998 with an eye toward building a new city hall and possibly a new police department, there.
“We have got a little bit of a red flag up now that it may be” a problem, said David Creech of LS3P. With some sort of parking structure, the site may work, Creech said.
The council also must decide whether to include a police station in a new city hall, or build a separate structure. Wilson, the Kansas consultant, said most cities opt to build separate structures for security reasons.
Police Chief Paul Brown said he prefers separate buildings.
“We don’t have a jail, but we make 6,000 custodial arrests a year and they’re in our facility, and they’re dangerous people,” he said. “We deal with different kinds of people than most city administration departments deal with.”
Still, Councilman Richard Anderson asked the consultants to estimate the cost of one building as opposed to two, saying a primary concern is cost.
“The city administrative staff would love a Taj Mahal. The Police Department would love a Taj Mahal,” he said. “We’ve got to be practical here, in my opinion ... in terms of what citizens are willing to pay for, because it’s not going to come cheap.”
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