Cove PD opens new HQ
Posted On: Wednesday, Feb. 17 2010 12:37 AM
By Taylor Short
Killeen Daily HeraldCOPPERAS COVE – Nearly a hundred Copperas Cove officials and residents toured the new police department facility at the grand opening ceremony Tuesday.
While the department will begin moving supplies from the old station just a block away in the next few days, Chief Tim Molnes welcomed the public and the officials who made the 33,000-square-foot facility a reality.
Guests toured the halls and offices of the $10.6 million state-of-the-art building, paid for by a bond passed by voters, viewing the modern evidence rooms, jail cells, armory, dispatcher center and community meeting rooms.
"I'm most proud of the men and women of this department," said City Manager Andrea Gardner, standing in the naturally lit foyer. "They are what made this possible, and I say that seeing what they worked out of."
Molnes said the biggest difference is the amount of space available to the officers and staff that was lacking in the old station, parts of which were more than 30 years old.
"It's a state-of-the-art building, we've got everything at our finger tips and those amenities are added things that we're going to use to provide services," he said.
Instead of the painted cinderblock walls of the old station, the new building, designed by Brinkley Sargent Architects and built by Rogers-O'Brien Construction, features modern lighting and flooring and flat-screen monitors throughout.
Officers showed off their new office spaces to curious visitors and said they feel like it's a fresh start to work in the new building.
"It's more technically advanced than where we were at and all the equipment; it will be like starting over," said Cpl. Shane Kieltyka.
Lt. Daniel Austin said he was excited to have a space to hold the Citizens Police Academy and better connect with the public.
After the ribbon-cutting, representatives from the Copperas Cove Walmart presented Molnes with a donation of $2,000 and congratulations on the new facility.
Mayor Pro Tem Frank Sefrood said it was an awesome structure as he filed inside to take a tour.
"It's great to see the community come together like this," he said.
Contact Taylor Short at
tshort@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7476.
Follow him on Twitter at KDHcove.