Castle Rock approved a construction contract to expand and update the town’s police department to meet growing needs.

On Sept. 20, town council passed a contract with MW Golden for $1.9 million to build out the basement floor and improve the courtroom area of the  police department. The project includes additional lockers, restrooms and amenities for officers, and accessibility upgrades to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“This project and the purpose behind it is to maximize the available space for current and future police officers and also to take care of some ADA accessibility improvements in the facility,” Matt Gohl, the city special projects manager, said.

The budget for the construction comes from excess tax revenues voters approved for public safety, roads and fire mitigation in 2021. This year, the town is budgeting for $14.6 million in excess revenue and dedicated $2 million to  police department construction. 

On the basement level, additions include 58 new men’s lockers, 34 new women’s lockers, additional fitness space, a new restroom, two quiet rooms, office space for the traffic division and load-out lockers.

The first floor will see accessibility upgrades in the courtroom, additional restrooms and new office space for district prosecutors. 

Gohl said expects construction to take about seven months. Ideally, he said the upgrades should meet department needs for the next 10 to 15 years.

Castle Rock has budgeted four new positions at the police department in 2023.

Castle Rock Police Chief Jack Cauley told the council he’s happy with the proposed upgrades, which were designed with the input of Comdr. Sam Varela. 

“Commander Varela has a certain skill for looking at this kind of space and helping with design. He helped with the design on the first lower level remodel that we made and it’s worked out wonderfully,” Cauley said.