ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Oro Valley Police Department's long-awaited new headquarters is moving forward on Oracle Road. But one critical piece of the department won't be making the move right away — 911 dispatch.
The department has outgrown its current building for years. OVPD moved into the 15,800-square-foot headquarters at 11000 N. La Cañada in 1994 with far fewer employees than it has today. Now the department has more than tripled in size.
"We now have 141 full-time employees, so we've over tripled in size, and we're still in that 15,000 square foot facility," said Deputy Chief Curtiss Hicks. "So really, we're on top of people. What used to be a closet is now an office for somebody. What used to be a conference room is now an office for four."
Last year, the Oro Valley Town Council committed $3.8 million to purchase a 50,500-square-foot former medical office building at 13101 N. Oracle Road — more than three times the size of the current headquarters. The town says a from-the-ground-up new headquarters could have cost between $30 million and $40 million, money the town would have had to borrow. Buying and renovating the existing building was seen as the more workable path.
Asked whether the project's budget is locked in, Keesler said costs could still shift as the design process continues — and the town is hoping federal grant money will help offset the price tag.
"Nothing's set until we finally get the final numbers together," Keesler said. On the federal funding: "We're waiting to find out. It sounds very hopeful."
The town has already budgeted $1.645 million to stabilize the building — $545,000 of which has gone toward roof repairs, exterior patching and painting, rekeying doors, fire system inspections, and work on the building's 52 roof-mounted HVAC units. This year's capital budget includes another $2.2 million to finish stabilization, complete a design, and produce construction documents.
Why dispatch has to stay behind
Despite the bigger footprint on Oracle Road, Oro Valley's 911 Communications Bureau isn't going anywhere yet — because of a tower.
"We need that hardline communication and that technology here on site to receive the radio transmissions from the officers out in the field," said Oro Valley Police Department's communications manager Ben Johnson. "We need to have the infrastructure to be able to transmit from six consoles here in the center to the units really anywhere in Pima County."
The tower outside the current building isn't just used by OVPD. It also hosts equipment tied into the region's shared Pima County Wireless Integrated Network (PCWIN) radio system, connecting Oro Valley dispatchers with officers and other agencies across the county.
Johnson said the job itself won't change, regardless of where dispatchers end up working from.
"The level of service won't change," Johnson said. "We're still here to answer your calls 24/7 and to dispatch to the officers."
What's next
Public Works Director Paul Keesler said the town has already set aside space for dispatch inside the new Oracle Road building, in case the technology and funding needed to make that move ever come together.
"If we were able to get the funding, or whatever the logistics are required to move them, sure, they'd be absolutely better suited in with everybody else," Keesler said. "But in the meantime, that tower is everything for them."
As for the rest of OVPD's move, Hicks said the department is still working through its design process with roughly 20 different units inside the department, and the next step is bringing on an architect.
"We're probably two to five years out," Hicks said.
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