Police complex nears completion

[caption id="attachment_130976" align="alignright" width="460"] The Conroe Police Department will soon have a new headquarters once construction of the complex is completed by mid-May.[/caption]

The Conroe Police Department will soon have a new headquarters once construction of the complex is completed by mid-May.

The new $26.5 million facility is under construction at 2300 Plantation Drive and will also house the city’s municipal court. Police Chief Philip Dupuis said the facility provides convenient access to I-45, Hwy. 75, FM 3083 and Loop 336.

Dupuis said the 77,000-square-foot facility gives the department adequate space to operate its headquarters. The current headquarters measures 39,000 square feet and has become cramped as the department grows to meet demand from the increasing population.

“We have more room for police services,” Dupuis said. “The only thing that we will add that we do not already have in our current building is a community room.”

Additionally, Municipal Court Administrator Ronda Scarborough said the new facility will give the court adequate space for day-to-day operations and to expand, if necessary, during the next 50 years.

“We have completely outgrown this building,” Scarborough said. “The judge cannot even have an office over here. This [new building] will also have room for future growth.”

The new facility, which doubles the size of the current courtroom, will include court enhancements such as a call system and a docket look-up station for the public to be able to bypass long lines

“The public is sometimes standing up and all the way out the door because there is not enough seats available for them, so we doubled the size of the courtroom” Scarborough said. “We have had a lot of input in this, so it will be functional for everybody and the court.”