By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
July 6, 2011

More than 60 Kansas Citians submitted suggestions for the new location of East Patrol Division and the city’s crime lab.

City of Kansas City Planner Eric Bosch said the city’s already visited 25 prospective sites. Some sites were automatically eliminated since they weren’t within the 3rd District, he said.

City officials are keeping mum on specific locations to prevent property owners from increasing their prices, he said. Asked when the city will whittle down the options to two or three, Bosch said they’ll have a “pretty good idea” by August.

During a June 30 meeting, the City of Kansas City Council approved a $1.37 million contract with Kansas City based firm Helix Architecture and Design to oversee the project. Estimated cost from design to construction is $57 million.

The future facility needs to be centrally located within the 3rd District, within a neighborhood and far enough away from railroad tracks and highways to prevent vibration problems at the crime lab, Bosch said.

Bosch and the architect firm will continue to look at potential sites and will begin meetings next week with East Patrol, the Board of Police Commissioners, 3rd District city council members, the mayor and city manager to discuss options.

“The advantage of having these facilities on the same site is they can share some of the same amenities. So, we’re not duplicating them (like we would) if we built them in two different parts of town,” he said.

Located at 5301 E. 27th St. and built in 1949, East Patrol is landlocked with no place to expand, has mechanical deficiencies and has a design not suited for the community’s needs, according to the city’s ordinance fact sheet. As for the crime lab at 6633 Troost, the building was not originally built for a police crime lab, does not have an adequate fire suppression system, lacks sufficient space and doesn’t meet program requirements for the Kansas City Police Department. The records and evidence storage is currently at multiple locations without air conditioning.

When construction is complete, the crime lab, East Patrol Division and records and evidence storage will be at the same location. The facility and site will also meet the city’s requirements of LEED “gold” as outlined by the U.S. Green Building Association.