When you speak to any of our men or women in Blue, they will tell you how grateful they are to have this new public safety station in Grosse Pointe. Even though it is located in the City proper, it is accessible and open to all of our Pointe’s. The new structure was needed because our older facility was antiquated and had lost its functionality. In other words, the building could not handle its modern day needs. This new location is also more centrally located and able to help boost business on Mack Avenue as well as maintain a strong partnership between Detroit’s 5th Precinct and Grosse Pointe.
Two years ago, a bond was passed to help relocate the fire and police of the City of Grosse Pointe in order to provide a better and more current space. The Maumee location was almost a century old. The infrastructure was just not meant to handle the technology and sophistication of machinery today. When they were in need of a new fire truck, the dimensions made it impossible to fit the upgraded vehicle into the current structure. Because of the way it was built, there was no way to modify it in order to accommodate an NFPA compliant fire truck. “You just can’t do modern police and fire in a 90 year old, 8,000 square foot building, says Police Chief, Stephen Poloni.
The original plan was to move the space behind the current building located on Maumee and then plans changed. When Alger’s came to the City because the owners were retiring, City Council saw it as the perfect fit. The Council also felt that the location would promote and build up the Mack Avenue business corridor as well as strengthen communications between Detroit and Grosse Pointe. On August 29th, the new public safety facility was unveiled in a special grand opening celebration.
The new structure is double the size of the Maumee station at 17,000 square feet. Since these full time public safety officers are trained in both police and fire, security and training are paramount to a 21st century public safety station. The facility houses a state of the art police simulator, fire training tower, defensive training room, evidence storage room, detective suite and large conference area. “A lot of what we did for the building was consider consolidation as well as cooperation with the other departments”, says Chief Poloni. And since these officers work 12 hour shifts, a gym, locker and equipment rooms, mothering room, kitchen and dining area were added. "Its really an impressive facility," Poloni says. The architectural design was by PIA, Partners in Architecture, and De Maria constructed the Station.
For the Grand Opening, a special giant fire bell was unveiled. The bell was created to display a plaque for two officers that died in the line of duty, Sergeant Van Colle and Firefighter Richard Tucker. The Council felt that this was a nice way to remember and pay tribute to those men who gave their lives for our community. These brave individuals died in 1956 and 1978 respectively.
The new station is located at 17320 Mack Avenue directly across from Staples. The Department of Public Works and City Hall will remain located at 17145 Maumee. If you have time, stop by and see the new digs and while you are there, please thank you our men and women in BLUE.