Berlin police hope to break ground on a new headquarters next year, but opposition to the project is growing.
The $21-million facility would go up on Farmington Avenue and would take up about 30,000 square feet, about three times the size of the department’s current building, which sits next to the town hall.
“We’re looking for the community to support the police department. My officers are out there serving 24 hours a day, seven days a week and we’d like the community to back us up with the project,” said Chief Paul Fitzgerald of the Berlin Police Department.
The project has become controversial, with a group called the Berlin Property Owners Association raising concerns about its cost.
The department moved into its current space 40 years ago. At the time, they had one-third of the manpower that they currently have, said Fitzgerald.
Voters will decide on the project’s fate at the polls in November.
If it’s approved, the project will break ground in 2015. Officers hope to occupy the new space in 2017, Fitzgerald said.
