Construction is slated to begin this month on a new $13 million Nassau County police First Precinct station house in Baldwin that will replace the nearly century-old current building.
The three-story, 25,000-square-foot brick-faced structure will be erected on the parking lot south of the existing building on the corner of Harrison Avenue and Merrick Road before staffers move into the new station house and the old one is demolished, officials said. The work is expected to take 18 months and be completed in 2015.
“My administration has worked in close partnership with the community to ensure that a new First Precinct is constructed in Baldwin and serves as an asset to the community and police department alike,” Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said during a ceremonial groundbreaking last week.
The county legislature recently approved the construction contract, capping about a decade of debate over prior proposals to replace the building, which officials said poses health and safety concerns to police personnel working inside.
The need to rebuild the station house was called into question when the police department consolidated its eight precincts into four last year. But, police later reversed course and opted against merging the First and Seventh Precincts—the last two to be consolidated—after Superstorm Sandy last year.
The county bought the Huntington Learning Center property abutting the west side of the First Precinct to make room for the redevelopment. Residents had opposed an earlier plan to close Harrison Avenue at the corner and demolish neighboring historic Kellogg House, which the county also owns and will instead preserve as a community center.
The new station house will also be built to the Silver standard in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) by the U.S. Green Building Certification System, county officials said.
