Port to unveil $30M building

In late August, the Port Washington police and fire departments moved into their new home in the Public Safety Building at the corner of highways 33 and LL on the city’s far west side.

This Sunday, they are inviting the public in for a first look at the new facility.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. followed by an open house, complete with tours of the building, demonstrations, the opportunity to ride on the ladder truck and other activities.

They include drone demonstrations and a demonstration of the police department’s MILO room, where interactive, scenario-based virtual simulation systems are used to train officers.

The Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team will be on hand, and, weather permitting, an Air National Guard Black Hawk helicopter will be available for people to check out. There will also be a Coast Guard boat on site.

There will be a live fire demonstration at 11 a.m. by the Wisconsin Fire Sprinkler Association and Ascension’s emergency medical service team will have a “giant operation game.” 

The Milwaukee Fire Bells support group will serve refreshments.

Those attending are asked to park at Eernisse Funeral Home or Harbor Hills. Crossing guards will be on hand to help people get to the  new building safely.

The city has been working toward the Public Safety Building for years, prompted first by overcrowding and a lack of proper facilities at the fire station. Officials later decided to build a joint police and fire station, noting that the police station was plagued by a host of issues.

The estimated $32 million cost of the building was controversial, but Tuesday the city’s General Government and Finance Committee was told the actual cost will be almost $1.5 million less than expected.

“This is not the final, final number,” Project Manager Maura Riordan of M-C Group told the committee, since there are still a few invoices coming in.

But, she said, the building is expected to come in around $30.4 million.

The new building is taking some getting used to, both Police Chief Craig Czarnecki and Fire Chief Joe DeBoer said Tuesday, noting their departments are still settling into their new spaces.

“The transition is going well,” DeBoer said. “We’re working some bugs out, getting used to things.”

The department is still adjusting to the move from a cramped station in the heart of downtown to its new, spacious home, he said.

“It’s almost strange,” DeBoer said. “You have to actively find people now. Before, everyone was within 25 feet of each other.”

The department has made good use of the training tower, he said, calling it a “godsend.”

“We’ve done pretty much everything we would in fighting fires there,” DeBoer said. “It just adds a level of realism to our practices.”

And the fact the station has sleeping quarters for eight paramedics as well as a kitchen is important, DeBoer said, noting the department had makeshift rooms in the old station.

“These people are spending a third of their lives in this building,” he said, “This is a respectable space for them to spend their time.”

There’s also a remote work space where firefighters who aren’t on call can do their day jobs while still being available for fire calls. It’s a space DeBoer said officials thought might be used occasionally but is actually being used four days or more a week.

“That’s one extra person here to respond to calls,” he said.

Czarnecki said the police department is still organizing its side of the building, noting its “a space we can grow into. It’s a nice building. We like it. We just have to get the kinks worked out.”

“It’s nice to have a garage we can fit all our squad cars in,” he said. “We have all the same spaces, but they’re modern and clean.”

The former police station was in need of major maintenance, he said, adding that the new facility can house the department’s 20 officers and accommodate twice that number.

“It’s forward thinking,” he said.