Greenwood residents needing to talk to a police officer or pay a ticket will have a new location to go to for the next year, as the police department moves to the former middle school during renovations at its headquarters.
A $3.5 million renovation project to the nearly 25-year-old building at 186 Surina Way, which houses the city court, clerk’s office and police department, begins this fall. Those services will move to the former Greenwood Middle School during the renovations, which will include rearranging space inside the 20,000 square foot building, technology improvements and installing a new heating and air conditioning system.
The renovations are set to begin later this fall and are scheduled to be complete by the end of 2018. The Greenwood Community School Corp. sold the building to the city and moved to its newly constructed middle school for the start of this school year. Once the renovations to the Surina Way building are complete and the former middle school is vacant again, the city plans to demolish the the building to make room for future developments such as apartments, condominiums, restaurants, businesses and offices.
For the next year, Greenwood residents wanting to get a copy of a police report or request a gun permit will be able to do so at the former middle school. Public access to the police department will be at the southwest entrance of the building, which is closest to Madison Avenue, assistant chief Matt Fillenwarth said.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryFor the majority of the Greenwood police force — the officers who spend their time patrolling the city — the temporary location won’t change how they do their jobs, he said.
“The officers come here to do paperwork, submit property and the rest of the time they are in their squad cars,” Fillenwarth said.
The remainder of the department’s divisions — investigations, records and administration — will be set up with everything they need to continue operations for the next year, Fillenwarth said.
“We’re not going to have anything at the new building that isn’t essential, because we know we are not staying there,” he said.
That includes records that the department doesn’t use, but is required by state law to keep.
While planning for the move has been underway the past couple of years, the actual move began about a week ago, as desks, computers, phones and records all had to be brought to the middle school, which is less than a mile from the police headquarters.
As officers get ready to move to their new desks, they’re also keeping on the lookout for bats. School officials left nets at the building, along with a warning that bats sometimes get inside, Fillenwarth said, adding that the department hasn’t had to make use of the nets yet.
The parks department has been cleaning up the middle school grounds and the IT department has been getting internet and phone lines installed, Fillenwarth said.
The move is scheduled to be complete by Friday, he said. Some services, such as getting copies of police reports, may be temporarily unavailable to the public for one of the days during the move, he said.
One service that won’t be available during the stay at the middle school is the prescription drug drop off box that has been housed at the police department, Fillenwarth said.
Funding for the renovations came from the Greenwood City Council extending an existing loan.
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The Greenwood Police Department will begin operating out of the former Greenwood Middle School at the end of this week while renovations are made to its headquarters.
Where: 523 S. Madison Ave.
How to get in: Southwest entrance to the building, which is closest to Madison Avenue.
Times: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday
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