A Close Up Look at Police Plans to Improve Their Headquarters Building

The Pasadena Police Department wants to undertake a project which over three years would renovate its headquarters building at 207 Garfield Avenue, starting with improvements on the second floor that would include creating a more open floor plan, painting, and new flooring.

The interior remodel to the majority of the building’s office spaces and public areas is intended to support the department’s reorganization. and would be “the first major facility upgrade in the 30-year life of the building,” the Police Department said in a preliminary report.

Plans earlier presented to the Pasadena Planning Commission showed a new kitchen would be added to the Large Assembly Room on the second floor, and computers and the elevator would be upgraded.

The plans are scheduled to be reviewed Wednesday by the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, which holds a special virtual meeting starting at 4 p.m.

The remodel is one of 12 projects that are included in the city’s Capital Improvement Program for fiscal years 2022 through 2026. For fiscal year 2022, about $1 million would be appropriated to the police headquarters upgrade project from operating budget savings, a preliminary report from the Police Department showed.

Phase II of the building renovation project would cover the first floor, which houses the Records, Community Services, Traffic, Neighborhood Services, and Patrol Divisions. The remodel would include upgrading the flooring, replacing ceiling tiles, and painting. New computers and furniture for the first floor would also be procured.

Renovations on the third floor and the basement would be Phase III of the project, which would include upgrading the break room and kitchen for the Dispatch office, and installing new furniture, painting, and replacing ceiling tiles.

The report added the planned renovations, expected to cost up to $3 million, would “better service the needs of Police Department staff residents and the community.”

The report also listed other benefits expected out of the renovation, including safeguarding both patrons and employees, modernizing the workspace, improving recruitment and retention, increasing productivity and team collaboration, and accommodating “the emergent upgrade of technology.”

The Police Department conducted a Property Condition Assessment in November 2017 and identified immediate needs based on the physical conditions, structural integrity, safety concerns as well as electrical and mechanical deficiencies of facilities within the building.

The assessment also saw the operational need to open the Grand Lobby and keep it open for longer hours, and to provide a secure environment for the community and employees.

The building’s elevator structures were installed in 1989 and are in need of a full modernization to the motorized system versus hydraulics, according to the Police Department. The report said several incidents of elevator emergencies have occurred at the building.

A major change that would be immediately visible when the remodel is complete would be the move to polished concrete floors at every level of the building, eliminating most carpeting and related maintenance costs especially in high traffic areas, the report showed.

No structural redesign or demolition or changes to the building foundations are included in the plans.

Covering the existing 17,770 square feet of office space within the Pasadena Police headquarters, the remodel would also include upgrading information technology needs and improving cellular or local area network connections, the report said.