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In his State of the City address last night, Mayor Ralph Becker said Salt Lake City needs to build a new public safety building.
The current building has a raft of problems, including poor plumbing, and elevator problems which leave people stuck for long periods. Now, despite tough economic times, the city is looking at asking voters to approve money to build a new one.
It may be called the public safety building, but increasingly one wonders just how safe it is, with its poor plumbing, major leaks and falling plaster, elevators which often won't elevate.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said, "You know we have elevator needs, issues; employees being caught in the elevators, trapped up to 45 minutes recently."
"Dilapidated" is the word the mayor used. In his State of the City speech, Becker underscored the need for a new public safety building.
A couple of years ago, voters turned down a $190 million bond for the project. Now the city wants to revisit the idea with a scaled-down alternative, possibly seeking partners with other county, state or federal agencies. Becker says it may cost less than $100 million.
"We think we can come in with a much narrower approach that really will serve what has been a sore spot for us in terms of housing a critical function in city government," he said.
The mayor and police chief say they're well aware that these are tough economic times. But they're already packing 600 people in a 1950s-era structure meant for 300. They worry about the worst case scenario: a serious earthquake which leaves city police, fire and emergency services crippled.
Burbank said, "We have the potential, because of our facilities, to at some point fail. Whether that's our dispatch function, our detective function or in the event of a very catastrophic earthquake or something, we may fail completely as far as our ability to provide service from this building."
The plan is to put public funding for the new building on the ballot this fall.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
