The Cincinnati Police Department held a closing ceremony for its District Five headquarters in College Hill Friday, kicking off larger changes in the department.
With the closure, CPD goes from five districts to four. It's the first time in more than 150 years the department has had fewer than five districts.
The eight neighborhoods District Five once covered will be absorbed by Districts One, Three and Four.
The city has rented temporary space for District Five in a strip mall on Hamilton Avenue since 2018. The lease for that location is over at the end of the year.
RELATED: Cincinnati Police District 5 will be absorbed into other districts by the end of the year
The district's previous location on Ludlow Avenue in Clifton, occupied by CPD since the 1950s, was vacated over health concerns.
After that closure, city officials debated where a new permanent District Five headquarters would go. The city estimated building a new facility would cost between $20 million and $30 million.
This May, however, the city settled on a different plan, consolidating districts and eliminating the District Five altogether. City Manager Sheryl Long said the city spent months studying how best to spread police resources across the city and she believes the redistricting plan is the best way to do so.
"Closing District Five was not a decision that I took lightly," Police Chief Teresa Theetge said during Friday's ceremony. "In fact, I lost some sleep over it. But the alternatives were not good for the men and women of this department."
District Five covered Camp Washington, College Hill, Mt. Airy, Northside (all now covered by District Three), Clifton, Spring Grove Village and Winton Hills (now covered by District Four) and CUF (now part of District One).
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As part of the redistricting plan, other neighborhoods will also shift districts. Mt. Auburn will now be in District One, Walnut Hills in District Two and Mt. Adams in the Central Business District.
There will be no changes in service, job losses or position changes under the redistricting, police officials say, and the 90 employees at District Five will be reassigned to similar posts in other districts.
"You have our utmost commitment that we will provide you the same safety you've seen from this department since 1803," Theetge said.