Final decisions on the new Santa Barbara Police headquarters taking place before groundbreaking

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Santa Barbara City Council has cleared the way for the new police headquarters project in downtown.

The project has been on the wish list for years, but the current plan was bolstered by a voter approved tax known as Measure C, which generates funds for a variety of projects including the station and also other critical needs such as road and sidewalk repairs.

The current Santa Barbara Police station was built in the 1950's and has been called inadequate, unsafe, and outdated for many years. More personnel are in and out of the building on Figueroa Street now than it was ever planned for. These days the department has more than 200 employees. When the station was constructed the staff was under 100.

The new station is a multi-story structure planned for the corner of Cota St. and Santa Barbara St. In addition to the police headquarters, it will have an even larger parking structure.

The site was chosen after a lengthy review of other locations that were ruled out.

Groundbreaking for the station is set for next week.

This afternoon, the station is going through the final funding authorization up to this point by the City Council.

The work to build the station will take about two years.

The projects will be part of a bond sale that includes funding for improvements at the Dwight Murphy Field Park and overall the price tags are not to exceed $135 million. The police station alone will be about $103-million.