Davenport police prepare to move into new headquarters

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By Kurt Allemeier | Wednesday, August 29, 2007 1:33 PM CDT | () comments

Davenport Police Lt. Mike Venema shows off the crime lab in the new Davenport Police station on Harrison Street. Police start moving in Tuesday. (Larry Fisher/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

The elevators have been inspected and most of the furniture is in place. All that is missing are the cops.

A ribbon-cutting for the new $20.3 million Davenport Police building is Friday, followed by a public open house Saturday. The department’s move starts Tuesday.

The department’s four divisions — administration, investigations, services and patrol — will move one at a time over successive days. The front desks at each building will be open during the move.

“I would ask people to be patient,” said Lt. Mike Venema, who is overseeing the move. “During packing and unpacking, certain records might not be readily available.

“People won’t notice a difference on the streets.”

Venema took a quick look around the new building Tuesday, answering questions from workers and showing off key features. He has made at least one and sometimes several daily visits to the building during construction.

Plans for the move have been in the works for almost as long as the building has been under construction. Venema has been interrupted in the middle of conversations by officers looking for spare boxes and tape to close them.

“Everyone has to pack everything to be moved,” Capt. David Struckman said. “It is just like moving a house — you just don’t realize how much stuff you have.”

A touch of anxiety is mixed with excitement as officers and staff prepare for the move, Maj. Don Schaeffer said.

“Everyone is looking forward to moving into the new building,” he said, “but it is crunch time.”

Several months ago, Davenport police officials talked to their Moline counterparts about their move into a new police station in January.

“There are a thousand details you don’t think of,” Venema said. “I know there will be a mad rush at the end.”

Talking to Moline police officials helped. Moline Police Lt. Jerome Patrick spoke positively of his department’s move.

“We had done a lot of pre-planning and delegated a lot of it,” Patrick said. “Many hands made for light work.

“People were motivated and helped make the move pretty easy. What was nice for us and is nice for them is that it is a short move. We’re a 24-7 business, so we can’t shut down.”

That is why Venema reiterated that police won’t miss a beat in patrolling Davenport and responding to calls. The department’s dispatch center is already up and running in the Scott County Courthouse.

The Davenport Police building has new furniture, so that is one less headache to worry about during the move. Any remaining equipment and furniture will be picked over for use by other city departments. What is left will be sold at public auction.

“We’ve had people looking at equipment in drawers to determine if it is out-dated,” Venema said.

Kurt Allemeier can be contacted at (563) 383-2360 or kallemeier@qctimes.com

IF YOU GO

Ribbon-cutting, 10 a.m. Friday

Public open house, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday

VITAL STATISTICS

Cost: $20.3 million

Space: The new building has 90,000 square feet compared to the current building’s 27,000 square feet.

Key features: Windows, an expanded crime lab, expanded meeting rooms, geo-thermal heating and cooling; a “green” roof planted with ground cover plants.

Phase II: The old police station will be torn down for a secure parking ramp. A skywalk connecting the police department to the Scott County Courthouse, included in part two, is already under construction and expected to be finished in November.

JAIL CONSTRUCTION 2 MONTHS BEHIND

A little thing like security is slowing down construction of the Scott County Jail, the other major law enforcement construction project going up in downtown Davenport.

Wiring for the jail’s computerized security system that controls locking mechanisms inside the jail is scheduled to start Tuesday. With the delay, the $29.7 million facility is about two months behind, Sheriff Dennis Conard said Tuesday.

Projected opening of the jail is now the end of October, Conard said. Once the computer system is installed it has to be carefully checked.

“It is a big project, a complex project that is taking longer than expected,” Conard said.

Construction on the jail began with groundbreaking in January, 2006.