ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown is set to spend all of its remaining coronavirus pandemic-relief money on a project to upgrade the city’s main police station.
City Council last December earmarked $9 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for public safety improvements, splitting that total evenly between projects for new facilities for police and firefighters.
But the body voted 6-1 Wednesday night to transfer $4.5 million set aside for a new Central Fire Station to pay for part of the police station project.
Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach was the lone member to vote against the nine-figure transfer. She questioned why the city would move money away from the fire-station project during a committee meeting minutes prior.
All ARPA money must be allocated to vendors through specific contracts by Dec. 31, used for other qualifying expenses or forfeited, Allentown Finance Director Bina Patel has said.
“It would be more beneficial to move that money over to this (police station) project because they’re already moving forward with it."Allentown Fire Chief Efrain Agosto
Patel and Fire Chief Efrain Agosto on Wednesday said the project to build a new Central Fire Station is too nascent to meet that strict deadline.
Consultants should soon finish a feasibility study exploring where to build a new headquarters for the fire department, Agosto said.
But he said he does not want to risk “delaying or losing the opportunity for that $4.5 million to be used” to improve public safety facilities.
“It would be more beneficial to move that money over to this [police station] project because they’re already moving forward with it,” Agosto told council.
Police station plans
Plans call for substantial upgrades at the almost-29,000-square-foot police station next to City Hall, with a 22,500-square-foot facility to be added between that and Hamilton Street.
Bethlehem architecture firm Alloy5 analyzed several locations in the city, including the patrol station on 10th and Hamilton streets, before recommending a project at the current headquarters.
The Hamilton Street property is in an ideal location: blocks from downtown and in the “government corridor” that includes the Lehigh County Courthouse and jail, Alloy5 Director of Development Bekah Rusnock said last month.
Allentown police leaders have called for the city to build a new facility for much of the past year after officers and detainees were forced to endure frigid conditions at the Hamilton Street station for more than a month this winter.
Counting the costs
Directing $9 million this year toward building a new police station will “lock in … a price” for the project, according to Chief Charles Roca.
A six-month feasibility study suggested that price is about $37 million, meaning ARPA funds could pay for about a quarter of it.
“There’s a lot of little, different things that are going on with this [project] that make it a little more difficult to do as quickly as you could work with the police headquarters."Allentown Fire Chief Efrain Agosto
Agosto on Wednesday said $9 million is helpful but “really just a drop in the bucket” when considering the overall cost of building two public safety facilities.
“Central Fire Station is in dire need of replacement,” Agosto said.
The fire chief hinted his department is eyeing a property that the city would have to buy before building a new headquarters for his department, a step that could add significant costs before even starting that project.
The new station also could house the city’s emergency medical services and health department, he said.
“There’s a lot of little, different things that are going on with this [project] that make it a little more difficult to do as quickly as you could work with the police headquarters,” Agosto told council.
