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Decision On District 5 Headquarters Not Likely Until Early 2019

Michael E. Keating
/
WVXU

Cincinnati City Council likely won't decide until early next year where the police department's new District 5 headquarters will be built.  

There are two sites still in the running: 3300 Central Parkway in Clifton and 5837 Hamilton Avenue in College Hill.  

When the city started the process, there were 37 locations on the list.

Northside resident Tim Jeckering told a City Council committee Monday it should not be a neighborhood-versus-neighborhood decision.

"This should be a District 5 decision," Jeckering said. "All of the neighborhoods in District 5 will win if this decision is made right, and it's not a neighborhood decision, it's a District 5 decision."
 

Credit Provided / City of Cincinnati
/
City of Cincinnati
Proposed location for District 5 headquarters at 3300 Central Parkway in Clifton.

City officials say rehabbing the old permit center at 3300 Central Parkway, which the city already owns, would cost about $10 million, which the city has funding to complete.  

Using the site on Hamilton Avenue would be about $22 million, and there's not enough money for that now.  

Resident Karen Hartman said she doesn't trust those numbers.

"The figures that you're using are not reliable," Hartman said. "So please don't make your decision using unreliable figures."

The final location could determine how long the project takes.
 

Credit Provided / City of Cincinnati
/
City of Cincinnati
Proposed District 5 headquarters location at 5837 Hamilton Ave. in College Hill.

The College Hill location is where District 5 is temporarily located in a shopping center. If the city selects that site, it would have to buy out the leases of the other businesses, increasing projected costs.  

Acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney is suggesting if that site is selected, the city delay the project until those leases run out. That would mean a new location may not be finished for another 10 years or more.

That delay could be a problem with Council Member Amy Murray.

"It's a big concern of mine. I don't think we want to wait 10 years to be able to build this," Murray said. "I think that's an inherent problem with the College Hill site."

Once a site is selected, officials said it will take 18-24 months to complete the new facility.

District 5 officers were relocated last year after some officers and council members expressed concerns about the working conditions at the old location at 1012 Ludlow Avenue. Those included cramped office space and health problems.

District 5 serves nine full neighborhoods in the city: Camp Washington; Clifton; College Hill; CUF Heights; Mt. Airy; Northside; Spring Grove Village; and Winston Hills. It also serves small parts of Carthage, Corryville, South Cumminsville and Westwood.
 

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.