The Estes Park Police Department is moving forward with plans for its new police facility after 52 years in its current building. At the Town Board meeting last week, Town Internal Services Director Paul Fetherston presented an update on the preferred site for the new location at the northwest side of Community Drive and Manford Avenue to the Estes Park Board of Trustees.
The police department’s current home, located in a 91-year-old school building that also houses Town Hall, has had no significant infrastructure improvements or expansions since it moved there. The population of Estes Park has grown from 1,616 in 1974 to 5,741 in 2026, and the current facility is “well beyond its useful life” and “critically undersized,” according to Fetherston.
Police vehicles parking at the facility share a public lot in downtown Estes that also serves Bond Park, Town Hall, and the Estes Valley Library. Because there is no separation between public and police parking, officers transport persons in custody to the police station by walking them outside and across a public parking lot.
Sallyports, which are enclosed garages used to escort persons in custody into police departments, are not required at all police stations but are strongly encouraged in modern law enforcement to safely and securely transport detainees.
During a joint meeting with the town board and school district board last September, the town staff proposed exchanging three acres of district-owned property known as Top Field, located at the northeast corner of Community Drive and Brodie Avenue, for town-owned property of comparable size and value on Manford Avenue.
After the school district board paused this agreement in October to complete their 20- to 30-year master plan for their facilities, town staff began revisiting site options on town-owned property.
The current site proposal was previously reserved for Encore!, a new performing arts facility, but after they withdrew their proposal, town staff began reconsidering the location on the northwest side of Community Drive and Manford Avenue.
The site has no deed restrictions, is over three acres, and would require significant parking and structural improvements. It would, however, potentially impact up to six barns on the property, according to Fetherston.
“As you know, the replacement and rebuilding of barns has been a long-planned capital improvement for the (Encore!) events center, so this would coincide with that,” said Fetherston.
While some residents have raised concerns about placing the new police facility adjacent to the school, Police Chief Ian Stewart said, “I was hoping to find something in that sweet spot where we’d be close enough to the school to be able to impact that immediately should there be any kind of crisis there.”
Stewart also highlighted the improvements to major road access, proximity to downtown, and security at the Estes Park Events Complex.
Fetherston said that construction of the new police facility would not begin until 2028, with the next two years used for final planning and financing. They hope construction will be completed and the new facility will be ready for occupancy by 2030.
The proposal presented during the board meeting was not for final approval of the new police department location, but rather a chance for feedback from the town trustees, who all supported it.
Trustee Mark Igel called the location “remarkably well located,” and said, “I think this is going in exactly the right direction.”
Trustees will vote on the proposal during the town board meeting on March 10.