Queen Creek council to vote on next phase of police HQ construction

Queen Creek is preparing to fund the next phase of construction of the new police headquarters.

On Wednesday, the Queen Creek Town Council will vote on whether to approve almost $79 million to start the second and final phase of construction. The amount is included in the current fiscal year’s budget.

The resolution also will authorize and direct the town manager and capital improvement projects department director to sign any documents, contracts and agreements related to the new Queen Creek Police Department headquarters and its associated parking.

The item is on the council’s consent agenda in which all matters are dealt with through one motion and vote.

The $78.9 million will pay the remaining amount needed to complete the facility, including all costs associated with utility work for Salt River Project, Southwest Gas, Cox Communications and CenturyLink, IT equipment needed for building telecommunications operations, and various permit fees from the county and town.

Under last year’s budget, the town earmarked $11.3 million for the first phase of construction, which included full site demolition, relocation of Crewse Lane to the south and early procurement of “critical infrastructure equipment,” according to a staff report.

The $11.3 million was part of more than $17.1 million budgeted for the headquarters last year. Work on the project began in June.

The total cost of the headquarters is $90.2 million with $96 million budgeted. The new headquarters will be paid through bond proceeds, the town’s pay-as-you-go reserve, police impact fees and the dedicated construction sales tax.

The headquarters will be near Summers Place and Ellsworth Road between Fire Station No. 1 and the Community Chambers.

If council approves spending the almost $79 million, vertical construction of the headquarters is expected to start in August or September with the project set for completion in July 2028.

The new headquarters will replace the growing department’s current operations at the Law Enforcement and Community Chambers building and will bring all police operations under the same roof, provide enough room for future employees and eliminate the need for separate substations or satellite facilities.

In January, council scuttled plans for building a parking structure for the headquarters due to size limits and cost. The proposed parking structure would have spanned three stories, reaching up to 53 feet in height.

Once the parking structure was deemed “too costly and complex,” the town directed Arrington Watkins Architects to “significantly” modify the design, according to the staff report.

“The design eliminates the parking structure completely, placing vehicular parking at grade level, underneath the structure and reduces available parking by approximately 90 vehicles,” the staff report continued. “It also provides a much more efficient flow of operations within the building for QCPD operations.”

The new design will provide more overall square footage, allowing the town to add some uses needed for the future substation 3.

The Queen Creek Town Council meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Community Chambers, 20727 E. Civic Parkway.

Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.