New Royal Oak Police Station Could Hit $20.3M

ROYAL OAK, MI — A new Royal Oak police station will cost between $16.9 and $20.3 million. Those are the numbers city commissioners received Monday during a discussion on the new facility. But neither residents or commissioners appear to be sold on preliminary designs.

Royal Oak is expected to finance the proposed city center project with bonds to pay for a new police station and city hall on the parking lot of Farmers Market, according to a Daily Tribune report. The buildings, along with a six-story parking deck, would be located near 11 Mile Road just east of Main Street. The police station would use a portion of the Farmer’s Market parking lot, a detail that drew the ire of a few people.

Laura Harrison, a longtime Royal Oak resident and former city commissioner, told city officials to “leave the parking alone and leave the market alone,” the Daily Tribune reported. Brendan Wehrung fought to keep the Farmers Market when it was almost sold off in the mid 1990s. “The police building is too big and too expensive,” he told the newspaper. “I think the building should be smaller and cheaper.”

Mayor Michael Fournier and City Commission members have said they do not wish to harm the market. “There are no plans right now to close the Farmers Market,” told the Daily Tribune.

Preliminary designs for the new Royal Oak police station were presented by Plante Moran CRESA, the city’s consultant on the proposed $58 million city center project. The facility would be about 40,000 square feet, have two floors and a basement, the Daily Tribune reported.

Designs must be finalized before the project can be put out for bids. Groundbreaking isn’t likely before August. The project is expected to take about 16 months to complete once construction begins.

Fournier and others want more details on the project. City Commissioner Kyle DuBuc suggested the next meeting on the station be part of a City Commission agenda or the topic of a town hall meeting, the Daily Tribune reported.

“We’re at a spot where all the conceptual stuff is done and we need instruction on where the city wants to go” with the police station, Greg VanKirk from Plante Moran CRESA told city commissioners.

He said specifics on a new city hall building are still a couple of months away, the newspaper reported. A downtown park would be created after the existing city hall and police station are razed.

Originally, Royal Oak was going to partner with CPDG on the proposed city center and move city hall into two floors of the seven-story office building. Royal Oak has since backed away from any partnership and is exploring building and contracting a new police station, city hall, downtown park and parking deck on its own, the Daily Tribune reported.

Rendering courtesy of the city of Royal Oak