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Hartford Public Safety Complex Nearing Completion

City Seeks Consulting Firm To Help With Move

By JENNA CARLESSO

June 08, 2012

HARTFORD —— With construction finished on the 150,000-square-foot public safety complex on High Street, the city is looking to hire a consulting firm to help plan its move.

City officials said police, fire and emergency service employees would probably move into the $77 million facility in late September or early October. But before that can happen, the structure will undergo wiring work and have furniture and equipment moved in. The wiring installation began late last month and will finish in July, said David Panagore, the city's chief operating officer. Most of the furniture and equipment will be brought in beginning in late July.

Crews are also conducting walk-through inspections and fixing any problems, Panagore said.

The city put out a request for proposals in May. Consulting firms have until Thursday to apply, Panagore said. The city has set aside $300,000-$500,000 to hire a firm, he said.

The firm would help the city create a plan for a transition to the complex and select a moving company, said Andrew Jaffe, the city's director of emergency services and telecommunications. Police will relocate from their current headquarters on Jennings Road, fire administration from its Pearl Street headquarters and the 311 call center from its office on Main Street.

The new facility will house the police department, fire department administration and 911 dispatch and include a two-level parking garage, separate, short-term lockups for men and women, the city's emergency operations center and the state's backup emergency operations center.

"In most worlds, you would close shop on Friday and reopen first thing Monday," Panagore said, "but these are 24/7 operations. We're looking for what options pose the least cost and the least disruption."

Panagore said officials are exploring the option of moving police operations from the various locations that the city leases in Hartford to the new facility. For now, he noted, the Hartford Shooting Task Force will remain at the Quark Middle School building on Williams Street.

"The space needs are all under consideration, and they'll sort themselves out in the fall," he said.

Crews are still working to complete a granite dedication wall that's meant as a tribute to the men and women who have served the city's police and fire departments. The wall is expected to be completed later this summer.