MELBOURNE, Fla. – It’s big. It’s modern. It’s a new police station the city of Melbourne says has been needed for a very long time.
Last month, News 6 anchor Erik von Ancken reported how the 75,000-square-foot facility will help police protect the community, but Chief David Gillespie wasn’t ready to show off the inside, just yet.
News 6 reporter James Sparvero stood on the same ground two years earlier when construction began.
In 2018, voters approved the more than $30 million Joseph Pelicano Law Enforcement Center to replace to old police stations which were becoming cramped and deteriorating with mold.
Pelicano was killed in the line of duty on October 17, 1986.
“This building is going to honor his memory,” Chief Gillespie said.
The chief then walked media into the community room of the building.
“One of the things that we wanted was space for us to be able to meet with the community,” Gillespie said.
The community room has a capacity of 178 people and includes a podium, kitchenette, and can even host city council meetings if city hall were unavailable.
Facing being stuck in the old police buildings in 2018, Chief Gillespie said he was confident voters were going to approve funding construction of the new building.
“I had hope because of the relationship we have with the community,” he said. “And so they spoke loudly.”
The chief’s tour also included photographing areas for holding cells, K-9 kennels, and storage. Photographer Julian Leek attended the opening of the Melbourne Police Department headquarters on Apollo Boulevard in 1984.
Leek was also on the tour Thursday.
“A long time ago, and they said it would last forever,” he said of the old headquarters. “There’s no comparison. This is upgraded to what the officers need, what the chief needs, and what the community needs.”
Additional features of the building for officers include a gym and a wrestling room used for defensive tactics training. The second floor of the building will house a new emergency operations center and 911 center.
Chief Gillespie said he expects emergency response times to improve after moving into the new building.
“This is going to help us with our response times,” he said. “We wanna do everything we can to continue to get response times down.”
Gillespie said the city will host a ribbon cutting for the new building next week, and then, he thinks at the beginning of next year, the new police department will be fully operational.
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