Jonesboro, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – City and police leadership are looking into a third contender for a building that would eventually serve as a second police station for the Jonesboro Police Department.
The Sun reported Thursday that the city was looking into the Shelter Insurance claims office building at 1709 E. Highland Drive as a possible option. Both Mayor Harold Copenhaver and JPD Chief Rick Elliott confirmed this to JRN.
“The responsibility of this administration is to always look into opportunities. There have been several facilities that have been brought forth in front of us, and we have looked at them. This might be another option for us as well,” Copenhaver told JRN.
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The building is about 14,418 square feet, with 51 parking spaces, 29 office spaces, and two conference rooms. The asking price is around $2,850,000, according to the building’s listing. Ultimately, the goal is to build a police station in downtown Jonesboro, where the Justice Complex once stood, to house all operations in one place, but that is still a few years away, Elliott said.
“As far as being able to walk in and start conducting business without major renovations, yes, that’s certainly a huge attraction to that facility,” Elliott said. “The fact that these offices are built out, and IT infrastructure is there. Location, it’s not too far from where we’re currently at. Again, all that suffices as an interim facility for the next several years.”
In the past, police and city leadership have considered two other properties: First United Methodist Church’s youth building in downtown Jonesboro, or the former Park Place Inn on Caraway Road. Whichever building is selected will not replace the existing station located at 1001 S. Caraway Road.
| READ MORE: Discussion Regarding Location for Second Jonesboro Police Station Continues in Committee
The second building would house police operations currently located in various government buildings across the city, which were moved after a structural issue caused the Justice Complex to be vacated.
The next step in considering the property will be to get it appraised. Both Copenhaver and Elliott said there was no official timeline for getting the property’s appraisal. Once the city gets an appraisal and it is determined to be a viable option, it will go before the appropriate city council committees for discussion.
“An appraisal kind of sets a tone for that. And so, once we have that, then I’m able to then visit with the owners of the property and to see what we can hopefully negotiate for the city council to look at, if they choose to do so, then that’s fine. And if not, we continue to move on,” Copenhaver said.
As for the other two properties, which were previously discussed by the Public Safety Council Committee with no legislative action taken, committee members said the next step would be to review the buildout plans for each building once completed by the city’s engineering department.
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