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Officers moved into the new Alabaster Police Department on Wednesday, Oct. 11. (Reporter photo/Alec Etheredge)

(For the Reporter/Neal Wagner)

By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

ALABASTER – After years of planning and construction, the new Alabaster Police Department is complete and officers are fully moved in and ready to serve.

The new Alabaster Police Department opened on Wednesday, Oct. 11 and is a significant upgrade for the officers making the transfer from the previous 70-year-old station.

“It’s so exciting to see our law enforcement professionals moving into the new police station off Highway 119 this week,” City of Alabaster Public Relations Manager Neal Wagner said. “The city’s old police department was built in the early 1950s when the city’s population was about 1,500, so this new facility has long been needed. The building is state-of-the-art and will allow our police officers to more efficiently serve the city’s residents. We’re looking forward to announcing a community ribbon cutting ceremony soon.”

The Alabaster Police Department is located on the corner of Alabama 119 and 11th Street Southwest and joins the department together in one location.

The new facility can host a variety of agencies as well as training classes and features temporary housing facilities for inmates. There are also interviews rooms, areas for communications and storage for evidence.

“There was very much a need for this building,” APD Detective Andrew Rowan said. “We outgrew our other building very quickly. We have approximately 80 total employees in the building we’re in now—moving into this building is going to help us further the safety of the citizens that we have now and help the citizens that are at need, and we’re very grateful for what the citizens have offered as well as the Council.”

Rowan said the facility will assist in helping citizens in the  department’s day-to-day operations.

“Utilizing this building is going to assist with getting cases done, helping citizens with what type of work force they need and steering them in the correct direction,” Rowan said. “We’re very grateful for the citizens of Alabaster, and this will help us dedicate ourselves to making this one of the safest cities in Alabama like we are now.”

Planning for the project initially began in 2018 under Mayor Marty Handlon’s administration, with the location chosen out of the city’s comprehensive plan in 2016 which had the goal of revitalizing the Siluria area of the city. The total cost of the project was approximately $18 million, including the building, property acquisition costs and prep work.

The city broke ground on the project in August 2020 with construction beginning in January 2021. The new building helps with providing additional public safety law enforcement services, including new technology and more resources for the city’s officers with a designed space of 34,000 square feet.

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