Jeff Humphrey, Media Manager, 509.625.6308
Friday, May 1, 2020 at 2:06 p.m.
Construction on downtown Spokane’s new Police Precinct is still moving forward.
Two months ago, the mayor and city council members agreed renting, and then renovating, the former Umpqua Bank building would give police a better way to prevent downtown crime and bad behavior.
Now, with the help of Flywheel Construction, the Precinct is already half-way complete and stands a sign of hope for better things ahead.
“As our downtown starts opening back up again, I think it’s going to be extremely important that people feel safe, health-wise and also, safety-wise,” stressed Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward.
Not only is the change in location giving police more visibility, but voters also approved hiring seven additional officers to staff the Precinct and patrol the downtown area.
“Just to be able to be engaged with our police officers, on foot, on the street, in this Precinct, is going to be very important,” Woodward predicted.
Right now, downtown officers are working out the Intermodal Police Precinct that is actually a former Greyhound bus ticket counter. Office space is cramped, visibility to the public less than ideal.
But now, thanks to a lot of cooperation, the new Precinct has gone from floor plans to a crime-fighting reality. The project is a week ahead on its construction schedule.
“And the collaboration is what made this happen. You can’t just have an administration or just a council member saying ‘this is a good thing’. You have to have that teamwork and that effort together to make things move forward and that’s what we did here,” explained city council member Lori Kinnear.
Spokane’s new downtown police precinct is expected to be open for business by mid-July.
