A new Hatfield Township Police station is underway as the latest estimated construction timeline was revealed during Wednesday night’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
Township commissioners and police officials presented Wednesday night the latest plans for the new police station that will be located along the 1600 block of Cowpath Road, west of Orvilla Road and across the street from the Snyder Square shopping center.
Estimates of the building costs have not been confirmed yet but will be discussed later in the fall. The township is actively seeking $8,330,440 in state grants and will be applying for several grant programs from now until the fall. Bid opening will begin in October, and the board will be offered a recommendation by the end of November.
"This is the largest investment in a public facility in the history of Hatfield,” said Hatfield Township Manager Aaron Bibro.
Construction is expected to begin in next February and will be completed in March 2025.
The new Hatfield Township Police Station, which serves Hatfield Township and Hatfield Borough, is partly to accommodate the number of police officers working for the station. Since the 1970s, the number of officers has grown from 11 to 30, said Hatfield Township Police Chief William J. Tierney.
"[It’s] a very different department, a very different community, a very different need,” said Tierney.
The building will be modeled after
the new $8.5-million, 18,000-square-foot Warrington Township Police Station,
according to The Reporter.
"By using this team and by using a template from another station from Bucks County, we've saved the taxpayers over $400,000 in soft costs to begin the project, so [we’re] moving quicker than [we] would have to if we started from scratch,” said Bibro.
The station will have three entrances, the main one being directly opposite the shopping center traffic signal, along with one for the nature center and a third for police-only access.
The new building will include sustainable aspects including solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations, and will be made with durable materials such as brick, cast stone, ground face and concrete block. About 34 acres of the nature area will be preserved as part of the project.
It will have a gated system that will automatically open when police cars approach. There will also be planters and bollards in front of the building to provide safety for the facility.
Detectives will now be in the same building and on the same floor. There will be a large meeting room that can be used for seminars or increased training.
"We spend so much time in this building,” said Tierney. "This is a home away from home, so it should be something that's comfortable for the people who live there for that portion of their lives.”
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