ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown City Council on Wednesday approved a $1.15 million contract as part of the project to build a new police station.
That approval came just two weeks after council voted to table the contract for more than two months.
Allentown officials now will race to award contracts to an architect and engineer by the end of the year so they do not have to return millions in federal funding.
Council tabled the contract Aug. 7 by a 4-2 vote. Members Ed Zucal, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Daryl Hendricks and Natalie Santos voted to delay any action on the contract until budget season, which starts in mid-October, while Santo Napoli and Candida Affa opposed.
That vote could have forced Allentown to send back up to $9 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
City Council last year set aside that funding for projects to build new headquarters for Allentown’s police and fire departments.
But all ARPA money must be allocated through specific contracts by Dec. 31, used for other qualifying expenses or forfeited, Finance Director Bina Patel warned two weeks ago.
Built in 1963, the Allentown Police Department's station on Hamilton Street "no longer meets police needs."Alloy5 study
Council President Cynthia Mota was absent for the first vote.
But she and two other members — Zucal and Hendricks — joined Napoli and Affa on Wednesday to pass the contract that hires Alvin H. Butz Inc. to serve as the construction manager for the project.
The construction manager will help the city hire an architect and engineer for the project — a process that could take months — before Dec. 31.
Patel said she is working with the city’s financial consultant to explore how else to spend the rest of the city’s ARPA funding if those contracts are not awarded in time.
Gerlach and Zucal suggested Wednesday that the city put its remaining $9 million in ARPA funding to offset a potential tax increase.
“That doesn't solve the bigger issue: We are woefully behind when it comes to our facilities for public safety,” Napoli said.
Ideal location to expand APD
Bethlehem architecture firm Alloy5 Director of Development Bekah Rusnock on Wednesday recapped the results of her company’s $50,000, six-month study on where and how to build a new police station in Allentown.
Alloy5 analyzed several locations in the city, including the patrol station on 10th and Hamilton streets, before recommending a project at the current station.
The police-station property on Hamilton Street is in an ideal location: blocks from downtown and in the “government corridor” that includes the Lehigh County Courthouse and jail, Rusnock said Wednesday.
And it has enough space to expand into as the department looks to bring all of its officers under one roof, Rusnock said.
Alloy5’s study recommended substantial upgrades at the almost-29,000-square-foot station, with a 22,500-square-foot facility to be added between that and Hamilton Street.
The renovation and construction project could cost about $37 million, according to the company.
Allentown police leaders have called for the city to build a new facility for much of the past year after officers and detainees were forced to endure frigid conditions at the Hamilton Street station for more than a month this winter.
'No longer meets police needs'
Chief Charles Roca has said the building has major architectural issues, as well as problems with its plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems.
Alloy5’s six-month study found the station — built in 1963 when there were about 150 officers — “no longer meets police needs.”
The Allentown Police Department's Hamilton Street "building has strong bones. It is well-suited for renovation."Bekah Rusnock, Alloy5 director of development
Councilman Daryl Hendricks has said there were 163 officers in the department when he joined in 1978, 15 years after the station opened. There are more than 210 officers on the force in 2024.
The new station should be built for up to 250 people to account for future growth in the city and department, according to Alloy5.
The study analyzed 30 characteristics of the Allentown Police Department, and all but one were rated as average or worse.
The building’s exterior walls were deemed “good,” while its fire-suppression system, parking and code compliance are “critical” problems that should be addressed immediately, Alloy5 said.
But “the building has strong bones. It is well-suited for renovation,” Rusnock said Wednesday.
