Ames Police Department Expands into Courtyard Hallway

Anyone headed to the Ames Police Department recently was likely blocked by forming walls.

The department is expanding into the hallway between its administrative office and its police records window and walls have been erected at both ends of the hall and also within the Police Department's main entrance.

The former holding facility will also be reconstructed for office space as renovations continue. Officers were using the former jail cells for makeshift storage since the department no longer houses inmates.

The Emergency Operations Center and police department reconstruction and expansion is being funded with a $600,000 Homeland Security grant and $590,000 of city funds.

Improvements include relocating and upgrading the dispatch area, police records department and evidence processing and evidence storage space.

The hallway between the records department and the courtyard will remain closed to the public after renovations are complete.

While the construction continues, people wishing to file a report will have to use phones available outside the administration department and in the department's main entrance to call an officer. People wishing to obtain a police report will have to enter City Hall from the rear or cut through the courtyard.