September 23, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
The public will get to take a tour of the new Smithville Police Department building soon.
The City of Smithville has scheduled an open house for Sunday, October 17 from 1:30 p.m. until 3 p.m.
“We would like to invite the community out for snacks and a time to look through the new police department. This will also give the community a time to meet our city officers. We are very excited that our officers will have a new spacious building to work in,” said Mayor Josh Miller.
“We are grateful to the mayor and aldermen and the citizens of Smithville for this facility. Our entire police department staff and I are looking forward to moving into the new building once its furnished and some finishing touches are made. This is something we are all proud of and believe the community can take pride in it as well. We invite everyone to come out and see us during the open house,” said Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins.
The contractor, Boyce Ballard Construction of Murfreesboro, got the bid for construction of the police department building at $2,395,000 but the city issued up to $2.5 million in bonds for the project. Following a ground breaking ceremony on September 4, 2020, construction began on the building but weeks later the work ground to a halt after Boyce Ballard Construction encountered unsuitable soils on the site. The city and contractor eventually agreed to split the cost to remedy the problem and construction resumed. The city’s portion was up to $50,000. Since then the city has had a few other add-ons.
The facility has a total roofed area of 12,800 square feet which includes a 1,400 square foot sally port. It encompasses a front lobby, records clerk office, hallways, three holding cells, armory, conference and training rooms, offices for the chief, captain, detectives, and other officers, rooms for records, evidence, investigations, filing reports, locker room, electrical room, closets, restrooms, and break room.