Although a historic building and full charm and character, the police building no longer adequately serves the department and the split functions severely hamper the department’s ability to efficiently provide services.
MSA assisted the City of Cincinnati Police Department District 3 Station in the evaluation of over 16 sites and coordinated input from community meetings, utilities, and various city agencies including real estate, planning & zoning, economic development, environmental quality, and others. While the site selection process was taking place, MSA worked with the Police Department to develop a needs analysis and functional program for the new station. Technical building criteria were also developed to ensure a safe, secure, highly efficient building. The design criteria were developed in a way that allowed maximum design freedom while protecting the interests of the City and the Police Department and ensuring a facility that promotes principals of community policing, neighborhood redevelopment and form-based codes, and efficient and flexible service delivery to set up the department to function out of this building and site for the next fifty years and beyond.
An Immediate Need for Space
The existing City of Cincinnati Police Department District 3 Headquarters, one of the busiest districts in the city serving 20 square miles, 95,000 residents, and 14 neighborhoods, is primarily housed in its original 1908 police building. Investigations and other functions are housed in leased space in an auxiliary building across the street. In the interest of time, the City decided to follow a design/build process to develop a new $17,000,000 headquarters. MSA was selected to provide design/build criteria services based on its experience with technical and industry standards involved in law enforcement facilities and with their design and layout expertise.
Community Engagement
MSA assisted the City in the evaluation of over 16 sites and coordinated input from community meetings, utilities, and various city agencies including real estate, planning & zoning, economic development, environmental quality, and others. While the site selection process was taking place, MSA worked with the Police Department to develop a needs analysis and functional program for the new station. Technical building criteria were also developed to ensure a safe, secure, highly efficient building.
Allowing Maximum Design Freedom
The design criteria was developed in a way that allowed maximum design freedom while protecting the interests of the City and the Police Department and ensuring a facility that promotes principals of community policing, neighborhood redevelopment and form-based codes, and efficient and flexible service delivery to set up the department to function out of this building and site for the next fifty years and beyond.