From WCTV.tv
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (WCTV) – The City of Tallahassee is moving forward with relocating its police headquarters to the south side of town.
City officials discussed their plans with the local business community at the annual Chamber of Commerce Conference. According to Assistant City Manager Cynthia Barber, the move will not only enhance public safety, but act as an economic booster.
“When you think of bringing over 600 employees to an area and you start thinking about the types of services that will be needed to support those employees coming in and out, I can just imagine all the various economic opportunities that this project presents,” said Barber.
The city is currently in negotiations with NIA Talcor to purchase the Town South shopping center at Monroe Street and Orange Avenue. Once the purchase is complete, architecture and design plans will ramp up.
The Tallahassee Police Department and the city envision the new location to be a public safety campus, offering amenities to the public like basketball courts so that kids can interact with the officers and meeting space residents can rent out. They also hope to have space to act as a regional training facility and to house the city’s youth program TEMPO.
Barber said it will be a community resource.
“It is a way to better engage the community. Particularly our youth. And really trying to strengthen some relationships where there have been historically been some relationship concerns between PD and certain parts of the community,” she said.
