Officials eye old dentist office for police expansion

Published 8:54 am Friday, July 19, 2019

With the Criminal Investigation Division in the city library’s basement, the city has been trying to alleviate the cramped quarters at the Elizabethton Police Department for years. Now that the city council has given the go ahead for the city manager to negotiate a contract to purchase the now vacant dentist office adjacent to the police station subject to its final approval, that long wait may be nearing an end.

The Zorawski office was never seen as an option in the past because it was still operating, however, the retirement of Dr. George Zorawski at the end of last year put the property within the purview of the city.

The plans in place before the current possible purchase were to add on to the back of the police department, and finally renovate the old Ritchie’s warehouse building that the city purchased late 2014.

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However, if the old dentist office is bought, it could possibly save the city from having to construct a new building, when all they would have to do is knock out some walls.

City Manager Daniel Estes said that as far as functionality goes, there would be no difference if the city built a new building or bought the dentist office. “We don’t lose anything significant for going for one option or the other. It should work equally well,” said Estes. “So really it’s a dollars and sense choice on the cost estimates.”

Estes said that if the city did choose the option of incorporating the dentist office, the overall projected cost for just the redevelopment and construction was estimated to be over $2 million. Estes did stress these were just preliminary estimates. The overall costs will be more when furnishings, equipment and security are factored in.

The money to pay for the E. F Street building would come from the city’s general fund balance, said the city manager. The city would have to possibly obtain a 20-year term general obligation bond to finance the overall renovation.   

Elizabethton City Mayor Curt Alexander said despite the steep price tag of extending the space of the police department, the city would still save money because it will not have to build a completely new structure behind the current police department as originally planned.

“According to our builder and architect, by purchasing the Zorawski building and putting that in the complete picture of the building, that is going to save around $40,000 at the end of the project rather than having to build new walls. Those walls are already there,” said Alexander. “However, if we are unable to negotiate a reasonable price for that building, we will have to go back to our original plan.”

While there are no concrete deadlines when work giving the police department more space will begin, city officials expect to have something in place before the end of the year.