It’s been more than six months since Akron officials announced three possible spaces for the city’s new police station, but a decision has still not been made due to finances, city officials said.
The city is waiting for funding for the project, which could cost “tens of millions of dollars,” Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said.
“We would like to make a decision on the long-term this year,” Malik said at a recent meeting with reporters. “Really, at this point, it’s a question of the funding source.”
The current building, the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center in Downtown Akron, is old and in dire need of repairs, Malik said. The building was in such bad shape that the Akron Municipal Court, prosecutor’s office and other city offices moved out of the building and into a new one in late 2023.
The city announced three options for the police station last year: green space located at 178 S. Forge Street, which used to house a Wonder Bread bakery; a vacant building located at 80 West Bowery St. currently owned by Akron Children’s Hospital, or, simply rehabilitating the Stubbs building.
Last year, Malik gave a June 2024 deadline to make the decision.
“Really, at this point, it's a financial consideration,” Malik said.
The hold-up, Malik explained, is in part because city is still negotiating its collective bargaining agreement with the police department’s union, Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge #7.
Additionally, officials are keeping a close eye on discussions in the state legislature over the police and fire pension funds.
State lawmakers have considered raising employer contributions, which city leaders from across the state oppose, including Malik. The proposed increases would be too costly and cut into the city’s ability to give raises and hire more staff, Malik told lawmakers last year.
Officials will make a decision when they have a better understanding of the city’s financial capacity for the project, Malik said.
“We hope to have an answer on that this year, probably the first half of this year,” Malik said. “There are a lot of different externalities and factors that weigh into that.”
In the meantime, renovations are still planned for the Stubbs building this year. In the proposed 2025 capital budget, the city earmarked nearly $2 million for a continuing elevator modernization project and a quarter of a million dollars for workspace improvement, including replacing the building's hydronic riser, or heating system.
It could still be several years before the police department moves into a new building, regardless of what officials decide, Akron Director of Public Service Chris Ludle said in the city's capital budget review meeting Monday.
"It's probably four years out, by the time we get funding and build it, so we need to do something in this building, just to maintain," Ludle said.
