Michigan City officials broke ground today on a new, 42,000 square foot, state-of-the-art police station in the city’s Eastport district.
Construction will begin on Monday, and is estimated for completion by October 2015. Construction will be done by the team at Larson Danielson.
Michigan City Mayor, Ron Meer, Police Chief, Mark Swistek, and members from the design firm American Structurepoint were all in attendance to kick off the historic transition for the police force and the city.
The groundbreaking today was a collective win for the entire city, who had been planning to replace the over 50-year-old previous station for years prior, yet the cards had never exactly fallen into place.
“There have been three administrations who have attempted to get this project completed, so getting to this point has been a lot of hard work,” Meer said.
For Swistek, who has watched his force and the city grow over the past number of years, the station was a needed addition to the cityscape.
“The men and women of the Michigan city police department have patiently waited for many years for a new facility. Our current station was not built for the 99 current employees and we have been working in cramped offices for way too long,” Chief Swistek said.
The decision to build the station had been in question ever since a 2001 fire at the old facility, which left it in need of repairs. And when the old Eastport School land opened up for availability, Swistek, whose number of employees had been steadily rising, moved swiftly to ensure the land would be considered as the new home of the Michigan City Police.
Together, Swistek and the city worked diligently to ensure this dream of a new station became a reality, and all agree none of this would have happened today without great communication and teamwork from both the city and the police force.
“Mayor Ron Meer with the support of our City Council have shown their commitment to public safety by moving this project forward and we are forever grateful to everyone who has assisted us,” Swistek added.
“This has truly been a collaborative effort between my administration, the Police Department administration, and the Michigan City Common Council,” Meer said.
Horizon Bank, who generously helped fund the project and make this dream possible, were happy they could do their part to help build the community of Michigan City.
“Horizon is a proud supporter of this project, which will further develop the city's resources and ability to strengthen and serve our community as a whole,” Assistant Vice President of Business Banking, William Gertner said. “This is just another example of our lifetime commitment to the Michigan City community. As Michigan City's hometown bank, we are honored to continue our successful partnership.”
And the end result of this collaborative effort, as Meer puts it, will be a new station that will benefit both the police department, and the residents of Michigan City as well.
“This new state of the art Police Station will be an investment in our brave men and women of the Michigan City Police Department, our Eastport neighborhood, and it will show Michigan City’s continued commitment, under my administration, to providing our citizens and visitors the highest level of public health and safety possible.”
