Posted on April - 06 - 2011
Police, fire moves may tip retail dominoes across Memphis
Inventory Clerk S. Smith-Woods replaces a shotgun rack Tuesday at the Memphis Police Department’s Union Precinct, which will move into the new Crump Precinct.
Planned moves and construction of Memphis police and fire facilities may create a domino effect of developments stretching from Raleigh to Midtown.
Demolition crews are now finishing removal of the long-vacant Seessel’s grocery building at 3545 Austin Peay in Raleigh. That’s where the Memphis Police Department will build a new $8.5 million home for its Traffic Division if the City Council approves the capital improvement budget request in June, city architect Mel Scheuerman said.
The project would enable the Traffic Division to leave the cramped building at 1925 Union in Midtown.
Once vacated by police, the Union property will be the site of two developments, if all goes to plan. Most of it would be sold for retail development, but one-third of the frontage would be retained by the city for a new fire station, Scheuerman said.
The firefightingpany that now inhabits the old Fire Station No. 11 a few blocks west at 1826 Union would move into the new facility.
The city would then use the existing fire station for other purposes or sell it for possible adaptive reuse by private owners, Scheuerman said.
Meanwhile, the Union Precinct, which shared 1925 Union with the Traffic Bureau, is scheduled to move out in 14 months when the new Crump Precinct in the University Place Hope VImunity isplete, Scheuerman said.
Some leaders in the Raleighmunity, where the Austin Peay retail strip has be increasingly distressed with vacancies and exploitive loan shops, are doubly happy.
Raleigh not only will benefit from a new, massive police presence, but it’s now rid of the vacant grocery building, which Albertson’s closed in 2002.
Meanwhile, the Tennessee Department of Transportation is demolishing a long-vacant Chevrolet dealership at the other end of the Austin Peay strip, near Raleigh-Millington.
“We have a lot of vacant buildings still out there,” said Sonny Almond, board member of the Raleighmunity Council. “Just getting those two taken care of is a big deal for us.”
State Rep. Antonio Parkinson, whose district includes Raleigh, said the increased police presence will be “wonderful.”
“It will help secure businesses on Austin Peay,” he said. Security is “vitally important” to revitalize the retail district, he said.
If the City Council approves funding in June, the project will bid at the end of that month, Scheuerman.
The new building will cost an estimated $8.5 million to build and another $1 million for fixtures and equipment, he said. Demolition will cost $200,000.
Its 16,000 square feet will house 100 officers per shift, a large roll-call room that doubles as amunity meeting room, and the motorcycle squad.
The facility will have a canopied space to amodate motorists affected by the inclement weather policy for reporting accidents. Motorists would drive into the well-lit space where police could view the damage and make their reports
The 7.5-acre site will triple the parking capacity of the Union property, Scheuerman said. There’s space for 350 vehicles, including 100 police cars, the officers’ civilian cars, and 50-60 spaces for the public. Now, the Traffic Bureau on Union can offer virtually no parking for the public, Scheuerman said.
The Austin Peay site is not near the center of Memphis, but Scheuerman noted that it is near Interstate 40 and thus gives traffic officers easy access to all parts of town.
“That’s as close a reasonable site as we could find,” he said.
Designed by Renaissance Group, the modern building will be one story and have a brick veneer.
Moving the Union Precinct to 949 Crump Blvd. in University Place was a key condition for the city receiving federal grants to help build the Hope VImunity, Scheuerman said.
Just 18 months ago, the city planned to renovate the old Fire Station No. 11 on Union.
But as the planning progressed, city officials determined it didn’t make sense to renovate a place that was so confined and where firefighters had to block traffic on Union just to back fire trucks into the bays.
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