ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania – The Allentown City Council on Wednesday approved a $1.15 million contract as part of the project to build a new police station.

This approval came just two weeks after the city council voted to put the contract on hold for more than two months.

Allentown authorities will now rush to award contracts to an architect and an engineer by the end of the year so they don’t have to repay millions in federal grants.

The council put the contract on hold on 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 the budget season, which begins in mid-October, while Santo Napoli and Candida Affa opposed.

That vote could have forced Allentown to repay up to $9 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The City Council allocated these funds last year for projects to build new headquarters for Allentown’s police and fire departments.

But all ARPA funds must be allocated through special contracts or used for other qualifying expenses by December 31, otherwise they will expire, Finance Director Bina Patel warned two weeks ago.

Council President Cynthia Mota was absent from the first vote.

But she and two other members – Zucal and Hendricks – joined Napoli and Affa on Wednesday to approve the contract that will hire Alvin H. Butz Inc. as construction manager for the project.

The construction manager will help the city hire an architect and engineer for the project before Dec. 31, a process that could take months.

Patel said she is working with the city’s financial advisor to figure out how the city’s remaining ARPA funds could be spent elsewhere if those contracts are not awarded in a timely manner.

Gerlach and Zucal proposed Wednesday that the city use the remaining $9 million in ARPA funds to offset a potential tax increase.

“This does not solve the larger problem: we are woefully behind in providing our public safety,” Napoli said.

Ideal location for expansion of APD

On Wednesday, Bekah Rusnock, director of development at Bethlehem-based architecture firm Alloy5, summarized the results of her firm’s $50,000, six-month study into the location and nature of building a new police station in Allentown.

Alloy5 analyzed several locations in the city, including the patrol station at the corner of 10th and Hamilton Streets, before recommending a project at the current station.

The police station’s Hamilton Street property is ideally located: a few blocks from downtown and in the “government corridor” that also includes the Lehigh County courthouse and jail, Rusnock said Wednesday.

Jason Addy

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LehighValleyNews.com

And there is plenty of room to expand as the department looks to bring all of its officers under one roof, Rusnock said.

Alloy5’s study recommended extensive upgrades to the 30,000-square-foot station and the construction of a 25,000-square-foot facility between the station and Hamilton Street.

The renovation and construction project could cost about $37 million, according to the company.

Allentown police have been calling on the city to build a new facility for a year now after officers and inmates endured freezing temperatures at the Hamilton Street station for more than a month this winter.

“No longer meets the requirements of the police”

According to Police Chief Charles Roca, the building has significant architectural deficiencies as well as problems with the plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems.

Alloy5’s six-month study found that the station – built in 1963 when it employed about 150 officers – “no longer meets police needs.”

Councilman Daryl Hendricks said the department employed 163 officers when he started there in 1978, 15 years after the station opened. In 2024, there will be more than 210 officers on duty.

According to Alloy5, the new station will be built to accommodate up to 250 people to accommodate the future growth of the city and the department.

The study analyzed 30 characteristics of the Allentown Police Department and rated all but one as average or worse.

The building’s exterior walls were rated “good,” while the fire extinguishing system, parking and building code compliance were “critical” issues that needed to be addressed immediately, Alloy5 said.

But “the building is solidly constructed. It is well suited for renovation,” Rusnock said on Wednesday.