The City of Opelika needed an updated facility to house their police department and municipal court operations, but there was a catch: they couldn’t shut down operations while building a new facility. As a secondary challenge, they also needed the new building to be in the same location. To ensure their needs would be met and their operations could continue uninterrupted, they’d need the right construction partner. Ultimately, they turned to Robins & Morton.
To manage this project most effectively, the Robins & Morton team knew it’d have to be intricately phased – the demolition of the existing building, the construction, and the transition of applicable staff. Phase one involved the comprehensive demolition of the court’s parking lot, portions of the police department’s parking lot, external storage buildings and other related site utilities. Then, the team constructed the new, 38,000-square-foot police department and municipal court building in the cleared space. The following, intermediate phase involved transitioning staff into the building and carefully testing necessary infrastructure to ensure zero business continuity interruptions. Phase two consisted of demolishing the old structure, building the new K9 facility, and finishing sitework, utilities, landscaping and parking.
Now complete, the city’s police department and municipal court houses administration, investigative services, patrol division, 911 communications, evidence storage, holding cells, courtroom facilities, a training room and an exercise room. The campus also includes a 550-square-foot K9 building with six indoor/outdoor dog kennels.
Location
Opelika, Alabama
Architect
Seay Seay & Litchfield
Owner
City of Opelika
Size
38,000 square feet