The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is getting a face-lift.
Current renovations at the West Annex on Dayton Boulevard will add a public lobby and increase space for evidence processing and records storage. Also, crews have broken ground on a separate building for Hamilton County Community Corrections on the same property.
The improvements will help his office better use the space at the former Kmart building, which was purchased by the city in the mid-1990s, Sheriff Jim Hammond said.
The entire project cost is $3.5 million and is funded through a previous bond issue by Hamilton County, said Jeannine Alday, chief of staff for Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey.
Improvements to the sheriff's portion of the warehouse-style building cost $350,000 and should be finished in mid- to late summer, Ms. Alday said.
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Staff photo by Jake Daniels/Chattanooga Times Free Press Workers begin the renovations to the facade of the west annex building of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office that officials hope will make the facility look more like an office building than a warehouse.
Work on the records expansion is being done by Sain Construction Co., while Bradanna Inc. is building the community corrections facility, she said. The building should be complete by this fall, she said.
Chief Deputy Allen Branum said changes to the annex would make the building more user-friendly for the public, with an expanded lobby for residents to meet with deputies and retrieve records or reports.
Some of the West Annex offices have moved to the East Annex on Hickory Valley Road as space becomes available, he said. Parts of the East Annex were occupied by military personnel with the Army Corps of Engineers, but only a few offices still hold members of that staff, Chief Branum said.
Work at the West Annex site will add 35,000 square feet to the existing 73,000 square feet for county records storage but will not increase office space, Chief Branum said.
WEST ANNEX RENOVATIONS
* $350,000 includes more evidence room space, a new facade and lobby for the front entrance and a carport for specialized vehicles. To be finished by mid- to late-summer 2010
* $1.5 million for additional 35,000 square feet in Hamilton County records storage. To be finished by mid- to late-summer 2010
* $1.8 million for separate 15,000-square-foot community corrections building. To be finished by fall 2010.
* $3.5 million total cost, from existing bond issue
Source: Hamilton County Mayor's Office
The effort is to offer locations that give residents all over Hamilton County an easier way to interact with the sheriff's office, he said.
Ms. Alday said the Community Corrections program now is housed in the county's Juvenile Court building at 1600 E. Third St., which has serious structural problems.
The new building will offer separate space on county property for the 1,724 residents in county corrections programs such as probation, she said.
Chief Branum pointed out new space in the rear of the West Annex building, which will help evidence processing. The area is an addition that investigators can use to house vehicles or other property being gleaned for evidence.
The new area will help isolate evidence and create fewer chances for contamination, he said.
Todd South covers courts and the military for the Times Free Press. He has worked at the paper for three years and previously covered crime and safety in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. Todd’s hometown is Dodge City, Kan. He served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq before returning to school for his journalism degree from the University of Georgia. Todd previously worked at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. Contact Todd ...
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