Dispute on bids delays opening
A new, multimilliondollar police station on Crump Boulevard was completed in May, but it’s still empty.
The Memphis Police Department station at 949 Crump, west of the University Place Hope VI complex, is occupied now only by the lone officer stationed there for security because of a dispute over
When you have a project of this size it takes a lot of different people from a lot of different divisions and even outside of city government to make it work.”
Toney Armstrong,
police director
bids for furniture, according to city officials.
“We’ve got a building we’ve not been able to get the furniture in yet,” said city chief administrative officer George Little. “It slowed down the process, no doubt about it, but it hasn’t compromised (MPD’s) ability to do their job.”
The $ 4. 2 million, 15,539-square-foot facility includes a 4,580-squarefoot mechanical garage and fueling station.
It will house what is now the Union Precinct, which shares space with the Traffic Bureau in a cramped building at 1925 Union Ave. The plan to build a new police station on Crump helped the city receive federal grants for the nearby University Place Hope VI community on the site of the former Lamar Terrace public housing project.
The bidding process for furniture has delayed the Crump station opening.
The city issued a request for proposals for the police-station furniture in February, in time
to furnish the building when construction was completed in May.
However, Little said, prices came in high and a consultant hired to design the layout of the furniture in the building became involved with one of the bidding teams, creating a conflict of interest or the ap- pearance of one.
Little said the city considered turning to a provider with a state contract for the furniture, but will instead rebid the contract, a delay that could leave the station unused for yet another month.
“As much as it might make some sense to use the statewide contract, we would probably pay significantly more,” Little said. “The fair thing and more cost-effective thing to do is go ahead and put the bid back out. It’s probably the best out of a circle of bad choices.”
Police Director Toney Armstrong said large projects often require patience.
“When you have a project of this size it takes a lot of different people from a lot of different divisions and even outside of city government to make it work,” he said.
Meanwhile, a plan to move the Traffic Bureau to a former Schnucks grocery store site at 3545 Austin Peay in Raleigh is taking longer than expected.
Demolition crews last spring finished the removal of the old grocery-store building to make way for a planned $7.5 million police station. The project includes $7.5 million for construction in the current fiscal year, but the facility won’t be ready until the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.