City Hall West, the City of Boise’s new Public Safety Headquarters and citizen service center, will be unveiled today at 1:30 P.M.

Located at 333 North Sailfish Place the new facility contains more than 90,000 square feet.  Boise Mayor David Bieter, members of the Boise City Council, Police Chief Mike Masterson and Fire Chief Renn Ross will be on hand for the event. 

In addition to housing Police and Fire administration and the Boise Police Department’s new West District, City Hall West will offer a range of general city services to citizens.  Citizens will be able to pay their utility bills, parking tickets and return library books at the centrally located building. City Hall West also includes ample room for community meetings and the City Council plans to hold occasional meetings there.

“This is a huge savings for our citizens, said Boise Mayor David Bieter.  “The need for a new facility was identified as early as 1994 and we have now achieved a long-standing objective.  My focus as Mayor has been to deliver city services at a neighborhood level.  This facility does just that.” 

The state of the art building in West Boise cost the City just over $10 million dollars.  Since 2004 the Mayor and Council have been setting aside $2.5 million dollars a year during the public budgeting process for a new Police and Fire Administration building.  The purchase of an existing facility, a former Hewlett-Packard call-center, will save taxpayers roughly $12 million after the City makes improvements and adds equipment to the building.  The transfer of police divisions to the new facility will also result in a net savings of $300,000 in lease payments.

City Hall West is centrally located within the Boise Police Department’s West District – home to 55% of Boise residents - and includes ample space for both secure and public parking.  The facility also comes equipped with state of the art information technology (IT) and HVAC systems.  "We are thrilled to have this new facility, particularly one with existing features that can be easily converted to police use," said Chief Michael Masterson. "This building has a 6,000 square foot kitchen that we'll convert to a state of the art crime lab. Add that to the benefits of bringing our scattered divisions together under one roof, improving communications within the police department and with fire commanders, and this site is ideal."

“One thing we learned after September 11th is that you cannot have too much communication between Police and Fire personnel.  Having our administrative and training services located together is a win-win for both the Police and Fire Departments and the citizens of Boise,” said Renn Ross, Boise Fire Chief. 

Moving police services from the current Barrister location allows Ada County additional room for its needed expansion.   “The Sheriff’s Office has critical space needs now, and without the move the Ada County Sheriff’s Office would soon be seeking tax money for expansion to new space,” said Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney.  “The additional office areas on Barrister the Boise Police Department will vacate will save that money and allow Ada County to maintain centralized key services in the community.”

The Boise City Council will be asked to ratify the purchase during its June 19 council meeting.  The City of Boise intends to close on the property in August following the customary due diligence phase.   

The move in date for City Hall West Public Safety Headquarters will likely happen in early summer of 2008.