West U officials to consider public safety, municipal building expansion options

West University Place’s City Hall, police and fire stations are significantly undersized, according to a July 13 presentation.

The options

West U officials reviewed a public safety facilities needs assessment that showed City Hall, police and fire operations would require major expansions or new construction. Council was presented with three options for improvement:

• Option A: a new police station at 3826 Amherst St. and a joint city hall and fire station at 3800 University Blvd.
• Option B: a new city hall at 3826 Amherst St., with police and fire to remain at 3800 University Blvd.
• Option C: an expansion of the current building at 3800 University Blvd.

City Hall, in addition to the mayor’s administration, includes human resources, communications, utility billing, municipal court and the public works administration. The police station includes all police operations, while the fire station includes the entire fire department and emergency operations center.

The specifics

Jeff Gerber, CEO of PGAL, the design firm that would handle the project, said the building that currently houses all three departments requires thousands more square feet than it has available.

“City Hall takes up just under 13,000 square feet. That includes some shared spaces with both the police and fire,” he said. “The fire station equates to just under 9,000 square feet, and the police station just under 12,000 square feet.”

The square footage needs for each department are:

• City Hall: 18,500 square feet
• Fire station: 20,871 square feet
• Police station: 24,640 square feet

Council members expressed interest in options A and C because of the added parking options. PGAL officials said they would return to council with additional information for options A and C. However, no date has been set for when they would revisit the discussion.