Montrose, CO — After years of planning, fundraising, construction, and preparation, the Montrose Public Safety Complex, MPSC, officially opened Tuesday with officials from across Colorado joining Montrose community members to celebrate.
The 36,000-square-foot Montrose Public Safety Complex, located in downtown Montrose, is a modern facility built to law enforcement specifications and the newest edition to the city’s downtown civic campus at 434 South First Street. It is the new home of the Montrose Police Department.
The grand opening was part of a larger public celebration recognizing the beginning of a new era of community policing in Montrose. The MPSC is the latest addition to the Montrose Police Department’s ongoing effort to increase its proactive policing initiatives throughout the community.
Montrose Mayor Dave Frank, along with fellow City Councilors, were joined by Colorado Governor Jared Polis to celebrate the MPSC’s official opening.
“The City of Montrose has shown great foresight and commitment to the future by constructing this new public safety building,” Mayor Dave Frank said. “It is the work of numerous early meetings, involving a wide array of citizens who stepped up to ensure the passage of 2A, city and police staff who led the way on the design of the new building, contractors and consultants who ensured that the design was correct, to the countless hours by the workers building it. This will be the shining jewel of our downtown civic campus for decades to come.”
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(See before and after pictures of the Montrose Public Safety Complex site)
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The grand opening ceremony was one of many public opportunities to tour the building before police officers and operations officially move in. The MPSC has a workspace to accommodate 90 police officers working on patrol, computer forensics, crime analysis, code enforcement, mental health co-responder, and traffic, street crime, and detective units. The building has increased storage for about 13,000 pieces of evidence.
(Montrose Mayor Dave Frank speaks during Tuesday's grand opening.)
(Colorado Governor Jared Polis speaks during Tuesday's grand opening.)
“When voters made this choice to fund the project, it showed that they placed their trust in law enforcement, and once again, just like they do every day, law enforcement has delivered,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis said. “When a community invests in itself, improving public safety, good things happen, and that's what we are celebrating here today. I want to thank the men and women of the Montrose Police Department, of course, Chief Hall, for building the connections that were needed with the community to get this done. Safe communities are a critical part of our Colorado way of life.”
The MPSC was built around the former 6,400-square-foot police department building, which housed police operations during construction.
A Better Montrose Through Public Safety
After several years of study by city staff and elected officials, a formal effort to build a new MPSC began in 2018 with the support and assistance of community partners such as Montrose Regional Crime Stoppers and the city’s Public Safety Advisory Committee.
In 2019 Montrose voters approved ballot measure 2A, increasing city sales taxes solely for the purposes of hiring more police officers and support staff, acquiring new equipment such as police vehicles and safety gear, and constructing the new MPSC.
In March 2021 the City Council officially authorized $16,212,884 for the construction of the MPSC. The total amount to build the facility topped out at $18 million due to supply chain issues and price hikes in materials.
Public safety remains the City of Montrose’s highest priority. Thanks to the community’s support for law enforcement demonstrated by its approval of ballot measure 2A, the department is better equipped to implement new proactive policing methods intended to disrupt crime and drug trafficking in the community.
“So if I seem a little proud today, it’s because I am proud. I’m proud of our officers, I’m proud of our staff, I’m proud of our design and construction team, and I’m proud of our community for making this day possible for us,” Montrose Police Department Chief Blaine Hall said. “To our citizens, I commit this building to you. We are committed to your safety, this is our job, and we utilize this facility for those duties forever.”
(Montrose Police Chief Blaine Hall speaks during Tuesday's grand opening.)
The MPSC’s design includes modern technology that will allow officers to sync their body-worn and in-car equipment with the building's digital infrastructure for evidence retention and storage.
The state-of-the-art public safety facility will also allow law enforcement agencies from across the Western Slope to enhance their skills inside the MPSC's new training facility. Other spaces include meeting and conference rooms that will be made available to the public.
“We will continue to preserve and protect the citizens of this city,” Hall said.