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Bryan’s New Justice Center Set to Open
By REBECCA WATTS

The City of Bryan has posed a live webcam on its website sgowing realtime construction progress. More information can be found there at www.bryantx.gov.

For the first time in its history, the Bryan Police Department will have a building specifically designed to meet their needs. The 63,000 square foot Justice Center, located on the corner of East 29th Street across from City Hall, will house both the Bryan Police Department and the Municipal Court and is scheduled for completion by the end of April.

The City Council began tossing the idea of a new justice center around in 1994 and has since searched for ways to align the needs of the police department and municipal court with rising construction costs. The cost of the center is nearing $22 million, Deputy City Manager Hugh Walker said, with construction costs at the expected $17.5 million bid. Houston-based construction company Satterfield and Pontikes was selected as the contractor. The bid was originally $3 million over budget, but after making some minor aesthetic changes, the council issued debt to pay the rest. The first debt issuance was in 2003, followed by three more in 2004, 2007 and 2008. The bonds will be repaid over a period of 20 to 30 years.

The Bryan Police Department is currently housed in a former bank building. Deputy Chief Peter Scheets said the department has long outgrown its 23,000 square feet of space. “We’ve outgrown this building,” Scheets said. “There are many different facets of police work. We have division commanders, or civilian manager equivalents, for example. We have one that is working out of a hall that has been converted into office space.” The police department moved into their current location in 1986 and at that time, the building was scheduled to accommodate the department’s needs for about 10 years. Now, 12 years later, the department’s crime lab is inside a closet and its property and evidence is stored in a separate location. Staff and administrative functions are not aligned within the building, which creates communication difficulties. However, the move to the Justice Center will more than double the square footage the department currently has, and these problems will be eliminated.

“This building will be the first to operate with a specific function,” Scheets said. “It’s one of the things we are looking forward to. The building is set-up to facilitate the support of technology operations.”

One of the highlights the building will offer the department is the addition of an automatic vehicle location system in each shift sergeant’s office. Currently, these systems are located two floors above the patrol offices. With these systems, sergeants can keep track of patrol units through a graphic display that gives officers a bird’s eye view of where patrol units are stationed. Scheets said this knowledge is critical in an emergency when deciding on a plan of action. The building also has a walk-in freezer designed to store and maintain evidence and a separate entrance for the public to recover stolen property. Administrative layout will be streamlined, resulting in more effective and efficient communication internally and with other city offices.

Mary Lynne Stratta, Secretary for the City of Bryan, said being housed in the same location as the police department will greatly improve the efficiency of the municipal court as well. “We’re two separate functions, but we use a lot of the same paperwork,” Stratta said. Fax machines are currently used to transmit warrants to the police department, and people often show up at the Municipal Court to pay traffic tickets before the court has even received them. The close proximity will also offer more flexibility. “We have to keep an officer in the building at all times for security purposes,” Stratta said, “and the Bailiff can’t leave the building until another one can relieve those duties.” Police officers can be easily accessed to serve as trial witnesses and holding cells are available for municipal court use as well. The center will house a second courtroom for trials with a secure entrance that in off hours is available as a community meeting room. The Municipal court pays rent at its current location in the Medical Plaza Shopping Center on East 29th St. Stratta said those funds could now go into something the city owns.