Board Approves Renovations to Public Safety Building

The Board of Trustees approved the spending of up to $60,000.00 to renovate the building located at 6227 W. Michigan Avenue at last week's meeting. 

Work was scheduled to begin this week, pending the finalizing of paperwork and is expected to be finished before the start of the new year.

“We’re trying to renovate (the building) to be more safe and accommodating to our needs.  It was (originally) a private residence that has been expanded on numerous times into the facility that it is today,” said Matthew Harshberger, Director of Public Safety for Pittsfield Township.

The renovations will provide the Pittsfield police force with some much needed changes at their base of operations, many of which will help with a safer environment for everyone that has a reason to be at the building. First and foremost, the renovations will change the current armory into a holding room for detainees. Currently, they sit on a bench next to a door leading out of the building.

“Right now, we’re having prisoners being housed in the hallway. Obviously, that’s unsafe. We need to have a room for them to be secured in during the time that they’re here,” said Harshberger.

The building will also be gaining two interrogation rooms, where it currently has none. Interrogations are currently held in either the conference/briefing/lunch room or in the same room as the processing equipment is held. Adding two rooms will allow the officers to keep suspects and witnesses separate during the investigation, helping with anonymity and keeping other areas of the department for what they were originally intended.

Since the armory is being transformed into a holding room, the renovation will relocate the room further into the building. Also, the evidence room is being turned into an interrogation room and, in the transition, receiving an upgrade that will keep the process of processing evidence a clean and easy for officers.

These are the major aspects of the upcoming changes to the Public Safety building. The renovations are a much needed upgrade to a deficient building and will help the Pittsfield police force run a smoother, safer operation, Harshberger said.

“Hopefully we’ll have everything done by the beginning of the year. It’s a pretty small project in terms of what the contractor normally does. It’s one of those things where they can knock it out in a month and a half with no problem,” said Director Harshberger.