Hiram’s three new City Council members followed the recommendation of Mayor Carmen Rollins Jan. 12 in reversing plans to move the Police Department to the Community Center.

The new direction is to move the council dais to the Community Center for monthly meetings and court dates, convert the current council/court room into offices and add 1,700 to 1,800 square feet at the rear of the building up to the parking lot.

Rollins said she was concerned about losing the Community Center if it is renovated for police, what it would cost to replace the Community Center with a new or existing building, the displacement of Public Works storage under the Community Center and the cost of renovating that building.

The mayor said the dais would take about 300 square feet of space, leaving about 2,000 square feet for Community Center activities. The council/court room is about 2,200 square feet and is used four days monthly for council meetings and court.

“I think it’s a bad idea to move the Police Department out of this building,” said Rollins, preferring “everybody under one roof” with the Community Center still available for rental.

She said Jim Croft of Croft Associates — which coincidentally is designing an addition to the Dallas Police Department — had drawn a rough design accommodating the new direction. The building addition would bring total square footage to about 9,000 on the first floor. The second floor above the Police Department can be used by detectives, for evidence storage and eventually for dispatching operations, and the second floor above city offices can be used for storage and record retention.

“It takes unused space and makes it usable,” said Croft. “There’s a lot of inefficient space in this building,” added city Operations Manager Jody Palmer.

The addition would address ADD and safety concerns with installation of an elevator to the second floor. Air conditioning units would be moved to the roof, and Rollins said climate control would be “way more cost-effective.”

Croft said 3,600 existing square feet would be touched by the renovation of the council chamber, center building entrance and restroom elimination, costing about $100,000. The addition with elevator would cost about $200,000 to $250,000, he said, bringing total cost to $300,000 to $350,000.

Rollins said the Community Center renovations for police brought a bid of $307,000, and the council unanimously voted to reject those bids and release bid bond money. “We’d get more for the money with this plan,” she said.

Palmer said the council platform can be reconstructed and “desks” moved using inmate labor. The plan is to design the council/court furniture so it can be moved against the Community Center wall, allowing more space for activities.

The upper floor is designed for growth, serving as meeting space in the meantime, she said. The council room ceiling of sheetrock would be lowered with ceiling tiles, “saving money in the long run with insulation, soundproofing and cables,” added Palmer.

The computer server would be placed next to the mechanical room, and space for the clerk and deputy clerk of court would move away from the Police Department.

The council moved through its voting session agenda and Councilman Jack Paris, chosen mayor pro tem again, left for a basketball game. Council members again discussed the change in direction and decided to go ahead and authorize the mayor to hire Croft for up to $16,000 to prepare bid and design plans for the change.

The vote was 3-0-1, with Councilwoman Helena Williams abstaining and new council members Teresa Philyaw, Derrick Battle and Earlene Graham opting to move ahead in the new direction.