The Town Board heard a presentation last week about the Estes Park Police Department’s cramped locker rooms, antiquated jail facilities, inadequate evidence storage, shared offices, and only one interrogation room which doubles as a juvenile holding space.
Those are just a few of the examples of how the EPPD has outgrown its current space in the Town Hall building which originally was constructed as a public school in the 1930s and then was converted to Town Hall in 1974.
Relocation of the department has been in the Town’s Capital Improvement Plan since 2019, included in the 2022 Facilities Master Plan, and has been a formal strategic goal of the Town every year since 2023, said Internal Services Director Paul Featherston.
Where the new police facility should be located depends on a lot of factors.
Initially the focus was on a parcel of land owned by the Bureau of Reclamation adjacent to the Dannels Fire Station at 901 North Saint Vrain Ave. However, due to challenges anticipated in securing this lease from the federal government, the Town Administrator’s office has shifted its focus to evaluating other potential locations.
EPPD Chief Ian Stewart would like the location to be close to the schools and downtown, which would narrow the choice down to an area along Big Thompson Avenue, both east and west of North Saint Vrain Avenue, and in the vicinity of South Saint Vrain Avenue.
Money left over from closed CIP projects has been identified to complete a pre-design assessment.
The Town’s project manager, Derek Pastor said he has secured an architectural team that specializes in designing police departments. The firm will focus on site assessments, design, and estimates on how much construction will cost, he said. This started the first week of January with site visits and is scheduled to wrap up by June.
Pastor predicts the project will take 48 to 60 months to complete. “The design itself is going to take nine months to a year, and land acquisition is not a quick and easy process.” Some funding may require a vote of the people, so that is built into the timeline as well. “Then, construction is 18 to 24 months,” he said.
Police MOUs also discussed
The Estes Park Police Department is seeking to create multi-year memorandums of understanding and inter-governmental agreements with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office and other regional law enforcement agencies to have off-duty officers help with big events in greater Larimer County.
The initiative would provide valuable training to members of the EPPD and also provide overtime pay opportunities, EPPD Chief Ian Stewart told the Town Board during the Study Session last week.
Stewart predicts this would result in a 4% increase in the department’s budget each year. However, it would be a formalized program which spreads out the opportunity to many members of the staff.
“This has been going on for quite a while,” said Stewart about local officers providing extra security at Front Range events, but since agreements were not formalized, not every officer had the opportunity to participate.
Very large events held at The Ranch Events Complex, Colorado State University, and other venues in northern Colorado require additional security planning and a training opportunity for the officers.
Events such as Frozen Dead Guy Days, Fourth of July festivities, the Longs Peak Scottish Irish Highland Festival, and the annual Catch the Glow parade bring thousands of people to Estes Park. By creating agreements with northern Front Range police forces, local officers can gain additional experience in providing security for local gatherings.
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