The renovations for the Elk City Police Department and the new building for the Elk City Fire Department were displayed during the Elk City Commission meeting last Wed. by Katie Archer from REES Architecture. The Commissioners approved the designs after consulting with both ECPD and ECFD teams. Progress should move forward on both projects.
The planning criteria for the ECPD included a need for wider doors at the jail for wheelchairs and stretchers, the lobby could be a bit smaller, personal item storage in the work area, brighter area, round table area, lockable storage reporting, patrol adjacent to the lieutenant space, detective being placed close to interrogation, drainage in the garage, evidence being more secure, forensic workspace, lockable work area, space for five detectives, dedicated workspace for lieutenants, patrol workspace, workstations, and storage.
There will be detective suites on the east side of the building, and there will also be circular workstations. They will add a wellness suite for an area for officers who may have been on duty all night but must go to court. It is also a quite space. They will add a break room with added locker room and space for the roundtable that the officers liked having.
The front of the building will be larger with a glassy vestibule with double doors. The commissioners asked ECPD Chief Eddie Holland and Assistant Chief John Cook how much the renovations will interrupt their daily routines. They responded by saying they are getting their plans together, and the detectives will be using the old city hall. They may have to use the old Buck’s Lodge for dispatch, but there are no definite plans.
Once the police department design was approved, Archer began to display the fire department designs. The planning criteria for them included the dispatch area, a hose dry area, fitness that is away from the living areas, the visibility of fitness, a quick project, a way to display the 1929 fire truck, a space that would promote camaraderie, area for EMS and training, zone live and work areas, bay exhaust concern, living areas, EMS supplies, and visitors or public area.
Archer said that the biggest issues needed to be addressed were storage planning, dispatch, and the added fitness area. The project is from the ground up, and she said that it should be a clean build. The apparatus bays will be oriented east and west and on the north side of the building. There will be five double bays. The offices will also be larger, and there will be a 50-person training space in the southwest corner that will have access from the main lobby.
There will be 25-ft area for hose drying. Archer said that she believes it will be a balance between getting light in and the equipment use. They added an upper roof that goes to an area where a mezzanine will be over the workspace, which will free up a bit of the apparatus space on the first level. This will allow for some storage space. There will also be an outside porch for firefighters to cook and hang out.
The commissioners approved that design as well, after asking the firefighters who attended the meeting if it was satisfactory to them. They all agreed.
