Jersey City plans to build a new police station for the Heights neighborhood to replace the century-old precinct which currently serves a community of more than 60,000 residents and nearly 100,000 daily commuters.
The current building, at 282 Central Ave., is 118 years old, erected in 1901.
“It has all sorts of issues,” said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. “The building has run its course. It has environmental issues, leaking issues, and all sorts of antiquated equipment. The police department has outgrown the space.”
The new six-story North District Police Precinct will be built across the street from the current one along Central Avenue on what is now a parking lot.
The precinct will be a state-of-the-art facility that will include a parking deck to remove nearly 200 vehicles off local streets and a community room for neighborhood groups to use for meetings and events.
“In order to fight crime the first step is build trust in the community between law enforcement and residents, and I think the new community room will be a big part of that,” said Ward D Councilman Michael Yun.
Mayor Fulop said the community room, on the ground floor, would be about 30,000 square feet and could be used for public meetings, neighborhood police department public-safety meetings, or neighborhood groups.
The new building will include a parking deck behind the precinct with nearly 200 spots for police vehicles.
Currently, police vehicles and officers’ personal vehicles are parked on surrounding streets taking up on-street parking that could be used by residents and shoppers.
Vehicles would enter and exit the parking deck on Sherman Place with a pedestrian entrance on Central Avenue.
Mayor Fulop said he is not sure what the current precinct would be used for but confirmed that it would never be demolished because of its historic significance.
More to come
Fulop said one of the goals of his administration is to upgrade and correct deficiencies in public safety and to catch the city up on investments that should have happened decades ago.
Currently, the city is pursuing a public/private partnership for the construction of a new East District Police Precinct.
It would be built where the former Statco building once stood in the new SoHo West neighborhood of Jersey City.
Construction teams completed demolition of the Statco building last month. According to Fulop, as part of a community giveback for zoning changes, the developer, The Manhattan Building Company, will provide approximately 30,000 square feet of space for a new East District precinct.
The current East District precinct, at 207 Seventh Street, is over 100 years old.
Fulop said the city is also looking to build two firehouses, and one new headquarters for both the fire department and police department as part of the City Hall Annex campus on Martin Luther King Drive. The city will also pursue a public/private partnership for a new school, which could be constructed across the street from the campus.
Input
Last week, Fulop and city officials held a community meeting to get input on what residents would like included in the new North District Police Precinct.
Some of the feedback included moving the parking deck entrance to Central Avenue as well as changing the building design to appear more historic to be consistent with surrounding buildings.
Fulop said the city is looking into changing the design to accommodate both requests.
Councilman Yun said he is supportive of the new precinct and the changes requested by his constituents and added that he would also like to see a Ward D Council Office included in the plan.
Members of the public can submit suggestions for the new precinct to the city by going to https://www.jerseycitynj.gov/NorthDistrictDesign.
The community input will be used to tweak the plans before they are again presented at a community meeting in September. Following the creation of construction plans, the project is slated to break ground in 2021.
The city will use capital funds for the new North District Police Precinct. It estimates the project will cost about $20 million.
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