A new building in Silvis will serve a lot more than the 22 people who'll work there. Monday morning, the city and police department held a ribbon cutting to celebrate its new police station.
The old station is located downtown in the Public Safety Building, which is nearly 100-years-old. Mayor Tom Conrad says the Silvis City Council decided to build the new, 10,000-square-foot police station near the hospital.
The Silvis Police Department employs 16 officers, six dispatchers, and a K-9 officer. And the mayor says those numbers will go up as the city grows.
Chief Mark VanKlaveren says they need the new communication equipment to do their jobs. The new station has three levels of security, a five-car garage and sallyport, plus plenty of space for booking, interviews, meetings, offices, and storage. Officers will also have a workout room with new equipment.
The Silvis Police Station cost three million dollars. And the department will move in after all the dispatching equipment is installed and tested.
