Construction is slated to begin Monday on a training and fitness center at the Enid Police Department.
Capt. Dean Grassino, who is overseeing the project said Henson Construction Co. tentatively is set to begin the work Monday. The $565,000 project will complete a training facility for the department, along with a fitness and wellness center in 5,740 square feet of space. It is scheduled to be complete in 30 weeks or less.
“This is going to be state of the art,” Grassino said. “That is the way it is going to be.”
The plans include creating a space for a classroom with seating for 30, two offices for the department’s training division, a storage area, an area to teach defensive tactics, a fitness center and men’s and women’s locker rooms with changing areas and showers.
Grassino said the addition of the classroom area will allow the department to better use its training officers.
“This will give us a place to train our new recruits and do our in-service training, which is required each year,” he said.
Grassino said the classroom will save the department money in training officers by not having to send them to other cities. It also will allow the department’s training officers to conduct training they have been unable to in the past because of space constraints.
The area is in the east portion of the department, which formerly was an inside parking garage and a portion of the old jail. About 5 inches of asphalt will be removed from the parking area and the north wall of the garage will be removed to utilize space created during the first portion of the department’s remodel. A rounded glass wall will separate the gym from other areas.
The plan also includes resurfacing the east wall of the department to match the new brick work on the north side of the building.
Grassino said the project always has been a part of Chief Brian O’Rourke’s vision for the department.
“It has always been the chief’s vision to improve the training and the professionalism of the department,” Grassino said. “It will certainly allow us to become a regional training center for law enforcement in the area.”