New Fishers police station, garage could cost more than $16M

The new Fishers Police Department headquarters and parking garage could cost up to $16.42 million.

The Fishers Board of Public Works on Monday unanimously approved a $10.72 million contract with Fort Wayne-based Hagerman Group to construct the 48,000-square-foot, three-story police station.

Hagerman also is constructing the $5.7 million, 240-spot parking garage that will be adjacent to the police headquarters. The Board of Public Works approved the contract with Hagerman for the garage earlier this year to start moving the project forward.

The police station and garage will be located where the Fishers City Court building previously stood, directly to the north of the Braden Business Systems Inc. headquarters that is under construction on the corner of North Street and Municipal Drive.

If the city pays the maximum amount for both projects, the total would be $16.42 million, which is higher than the initial estimates of $12 million to $14 million, but Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said he believes it’s a good long-term investment for the city.

The current police headquarters, which was built in 1994 when the city had 30 officers, is 24,000 square feet. Today, Fishers has more than 100 police officers.

Fadness proposed a new building for the department in fall 2016, saying the crime lab, patrol division, internet crimes division and property room were all out of space in the existing police headquarters, which is adjacent to City Hall and across the street from the proposed new building.

“I think we’ve landed on a project that will suit the needs of our community for years to come,” Fadness said Monday.

The new facility would provide room for special operations, evidence storage, processing labs, training, a gym with lockers, an armory and intake/processing. It also would allow the city to consolidate police operations into one facility. Right now, the city pays $36,000 annually to rent additional space for police.

Hagerman will construct and maintain the new police station and garage until Aug. 1, 2018, when the city will become the owner of both structures.