CROTHERSVILLE
The Crothersville Police Department growing in personnel in recent years has resulted in inadequate space at its office.
Several renovations are needed to meet the officers’ needs at the building at 404 Moore St.
The department now has four full-time officers and also some reserve officers.
Capt. J.L. McElfresh recently shared the plans with the Crothersville Town Council.
One estimate he received is around $20,000, and he is waiting to receive another quote.
For one, the floor in a bathroom is close to falling through, so that needs to be a priority.
“We just want to do what we need to do to get the process rolling because this one floor is going to fall through before long, and we need to do something,” McElfresh said.
The department also would like to make its front main office larger and create a storage room. That would result in the lobby being smaller.
Plans also call for taking out one of the bathrooms and turning it into an armory, which would create more space for a property and evidence room, McElfresh said.
That job would involving moving a wall and a door and building a wall, he said.
Brad Bender with FPBH Inc., the town’s engineering consulting firm, said he could stop by the police department sometime to look at the needs and jot down measurements.
Then some simple plans could be put together for the renovations. He would share the scope of work with the bidders for the project and ensure the proper state and county permits are obtained.
“You start moving walls and doors, anything that’s structural at all, you want to make sure you get a state release,” Bender said.
Separate from the interior project, McElfresh said exterior work on the parking lot also is needed.
Chief Brent Turner wants the parking lot to be sealed because it hasn’t been done in recent years. The entrance and some other parts of the parking lot need work, too, McElfresh said.
“The entrance is really bad,” he said. “It technically has a sidewalk that’s running through it. I have no idea if the sidewalk has to stay or if it could be taken out where it crosses the parking lot out there in front.”
Bender said when a contractor is in town doing paving or sealing, the company could be hired to do the work on the parking lot.