A project to be proud of

MOORESVILLE — Members of the public got a rare peek “behind the curtain” of the recently completed Mooresville Metropolitan Police Station during an open house hosted by the police personnel Monday ahead of their anticipated move into the building next month.

During the open house, officers and dispatchers led visitors on tours of the new station and many dignitaries, including town council members and State Rep. Peggy Mayfield (R- District 60) and State Sen. Rodric Bray (R- District 37) were present to take a look.

Features of the new police station include a new evidence locker, two holding cells, two work stations for visiting detectives, a large training facility located in the basement, security cameras throughout the whole building that can be monitored by dispatch, increased space in the squad room with two additional workstations, and three drive-thru bays.

Many who attended, including former Mooresville Town Councilwoman Virginia Perry, praised the new station as a win-win.

“I am so glad I signed off on this when I was on the town council,” said Perry. “It was so needed. … This is a good thing for the town, it’s a good deal for the taxpayers.”

That opinion was one shared by many current members of the Mooresville Town Council who were also present at the open house.

“It’s been one of my biggest accomplishments on the council,” said councilman Dave Rogers. “This is the third police station since I’ve been in this town. It’s neat to see it go from the old town hall to the other police station to here. … We’ve included space for future growth, so hopefully, it lasts for a long time. It’s a great location — close to everything and easy to find for people coming into town.”

“I think through a lot of effort from a lot of good folks we were able to get this put together,” said councilman Mark Mathis. “I’m extremely proud of it, and I think the town of Mooresville should be proud of it as well.”

Mathis helped spearhead the new police station project, something that was recognized by some of his fellow council members during the open house.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said councilwoman Jessica Hester. “I think it turned out great. Mr. Mathis did a great job.”

“It was his forward thinking,” said council president Tom Warthen. “That’s where this came from.”

Officers serving with the MMPD also shared their thoughts on the building that will soon be their new home away from home.

“I think it’s great,” said Det. Chad Richhart. “I think it’s wonderful. It’s nice to have the (detective’s) room. It looks great and is something to be proud of. Everybody seems to be very impressed.”

“I’m looking forward to moving in,” said officer Kevin Julian.

“I think it’s turned out very nice,” said officer Randy Rogers. “They put a lot of state-of-the-art equipment in it. It’s a very elaborate police station. … I imagine we’ll be in it for many many years to come. I think it was money well spent.”

During the open house, Mayfield presented a state flag from the capitol to the department and said that the town had done a good job with the space.

“I think they’ll really like it,” said Mayfield. “There’s room to work, room to grow. They’re not making do with the space in the other building. This is custom-made for what they need. It makes things a lot easier. … This is going to be very nice. … The town of Mooresville is very lucky.”

Bray agreed, taking particular note of the practicality that the new space offered the department.

“I’m excited for Mooresville,” said Bray. “It looks beautiful, but more importantly, it looks very functional. I think they’ll be able to use this for many years to come.”

Mooresville Police Commissioner Danny Lundy said that he hoped that the new building would increase efficiency within the department, allowing officers to keep the community safer.

“I like it,” said Lundy. “I think it’s gonna be great for the guys. The evidence room, itself, looks really nice. The new dispatch center is gonna help a lot. It’s going to be really good. Our guys having a proper space like this is going to help them do their jobs much better.”

Mooresville Police Chief Richard Allen said that he was happy to see so much of the public show up to the open house to see the station before it opened.

“We’ve had a great turnout,” said Allen. “I’m tickled to death that we had as great turnout as we had. … I want to thank the citizens and taxpayers of Mooresville.

Allen also said that he was pleased with all of the work that had been completed and noted that most of the contractors who worked on the project came from local business.

“Of all the vendors who worked on this, most of them are local vendors,” said Allen. “I think it’s very good and I’m very proud of everybody’s work.”

Fellow ranking law enforcement official, Morgan County Sheriff Rich Myers also praised the station and said that the people of Mooresville had something to be proud of.

“This is amazing,” said Myers. “I’m pleased for the people of Mooresville and the community here and what they’ve done. They’ve really looked to the future and expansion and seen the need for space later on and have taken care of that. I’m overjoyed at what they’ve been able to do here in the space that the have and the future of this building.”

Warthen said that the town’s use of the building was it turning a potential bad situation around, allowing them to put an empty building to use, while also expanding space for the town’s officers.

“This is the culmination of many things,” said Warthen. “This was taking an existing building that could have become an undesirable use. The town purchased it … and then we did request and received money from the redevelopment board money for the remodel. We received a total of $1.45 million from our redevelopment board to be used for nothing but rehabbing this building and getting it into the shape it’s in now. … We’re hoping this is a building that will last the town of Mooresville for a long time.”

Warthen explained that once the police station was formally open and operational, members of the public would not be able to tour at their leisure like they were during the open house.

“We wanted to share it with the public,” said Warthen. “Once this is up and running, you and I aren’t allowed down here.”

The MMPD is expected to move into their new building located at 445 S Indiana St., within the next month following the resolution of IT issues.

~ By Anthony Woodside | Reporter | Published July 16, 2019 in The Mooresville Times