By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Work continues to progress on the major renovations to the Hutchinson Law Enforcement Center.
“The upstairs has been turned over to us completely so we're in the remodeled area upstairs,” HPD Capt. Josh Radloff said. “They’ve done about 80% of the remodel in the entryway. They are 70 to 75% done downstairs.”
Radloff says the upgrades will fix many things to a building that hasn’t seen many improvements since the 1970s.
“First off, we’ll be separated with secure doors from the courthouse,” Radloff said. “So people that want to see . . . the Hutchinson Police Department, they won’t have to go through the metal detectors and the secure entrance at the courthouse anymore.”
Other improvements include an office for detectives, a better IT control facility and just better use of space.
Radloff says the other major improvement includes a total reworking of the 911 dispatch area.
“The dispatch director and assistant director, they will have their own offices,” Radloff said. “They’ll have a quiet area there so if they’re in the middle of a shift and take a traumatic call or something that’s kind of wearing on them, they can step into this room and kind of get away for a minute.”
They’ll also be getting new consoles, replacing the current ones that are more than 17 years old. Radloff says the space will be about three times the current size of the facility.
If all goes well, the project should be finished by the end of March.
CLICK HERE to download the HutchPost mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily HutchPost email news update.