Residents approved a half-cent sales tax in May 2022 to fund the Crime Control and Prevention District. Money was set aside to help fund the $45 million project, according to Finance Director Kyle Lester.
The city spent $2 million to acquire the land and $45.7 million on the construction for the project, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
A closer look
The building at 203 Fairway Drive is 45,800 square feet, with the police portion accounting for 37,500 square feet. There is an adjacent Roanoke Police Training Center that is 17,000 square feet and includes a gun range, training space, storage and the department's new $150,000 drone.
Jeriahme Miller, Roanoke assistant city manager, served as the project manager. He was the assistant police chief when the city was going through renderings, and when he became the chief, he worked through the land purchase, design and need assessment, he said.
“When you look around at the DFW metroplex for police, it is highly competitive, and having a venue like this can help attract and retain the best of the best,” Miller said. “I mean, when I was a younger cop, being able to have a facility like this, I can’t imagine. The building was built around a police officer’s day. It’s built from walking in, from the gym to the locker room, to picking up equipment, to briefings. The whole building was built around how a patrol office functions, and it branches out from there.”
How we got here
The Roanoke Police Department was formed in 1992, starting out being housed in the old city hall, Mayor Carl “Scooter” Gierisch said. He said before that, the main sources of law enforcement in Roanoke were the Texas Department of Public Safety or the Denton County Sheriff’s Office.
The previous police building at 609 Dallas Drive was 17,105 square feet, according to Public Engagement Manager Sandra Pettigrew. The new facility is almost three times that size.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, guests and dignitaries, including 63rd District state Rep. Ben Baumgarner, R-Flower Mound, toured the new facility. There were also police officers or employees from Benbrook, Argyle, Northlake and Watauga looking at the new facility.
What they’re saying
“We wanted to build something that would serve for many, many years,” Gierisch said. “Our goal was to build a facility that would serve our community, serve our police our court system is here as well. The biggest thing with our system is we have people who weren’t even able to stand inside [at the old location] because our courts are so small. So now there is plenty of room for our courts and plenty of room for our police department. We will be able to do training here. It is an all-in-one deal where it is going to save us very well in every capacity.”
What's next
Miller said the city will look at what makes sense when it comes to using the former police department facility.
"We are looking at maybe putting some staff in there," he said.
Miller said some departments are currently housed in the old city hall, at 109 S. Oak St., and the parks department or special events employees could relocate in the future.
