JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new Jaguars stadium, new jail and new police headquarters? Jacksonville city leaders are weighing their options with some major downtown projects.
The police memorial building on East Bay Street opened in 1977, and the jail right next door in 1991.
Although they may be associated together, a committee considering a new police headquarters and jail is thinking it may be time to look at the projects separately.
“It’s probably going to be separate, although we can still look at it to say, ‘What’s the pluses and minuses of not being immediately adjacent to the rest of the facilities,'" said City Councilman Michael Boylan.
Building a new jail is a much larger undertaking than a police HQ and is expected to take five to seven years.
In the meantime, the city set aside $9 million for work on the current jail to address flooding issues and inoperable gates and elevators.
“You go into the first appearance area, you see the mold, the water damage," said Boylan. "I was taken aback by the condition of the facility.”
Boylan says it seems likely the jail will be moved off Bay Street, but no land has been designated for it just yet.
“I think it’s pretty clear that the sheriff’s interest is to move sooner rather than later as it relates to the Sheriff’s Office," said Boylan.
JSO leaders report the department has outgrown the nearly 50-year-old Police Memorial Building, not to mention HVAC, storage and security issues.
Architects pitched their ideas for what a new facility could look like, with the mental and physical well-being of employees, as well as a new facility’s ability to recruit and retain in mind.
JSO Director Larry Schmitt threw a different idea into the discussion: What about repurposing an existing building rather than doing something brand new?
“With us moving Homeland Security to the Florida Blue building, that opened our eyes to the possibility of us moving the entire police memorial building into that building, and we’re seriously considering that possibility," said Schmitt.
Boylan mentioned using a recently renovated existing building could save quite a bit of money.
They expect to make a decision on whether to build something new or move to an existing building by February.