TULSA, Okla. — From the outside, it looks spectacular.
A massive office building, with the space needed for the hundreds of people who make up Tulsa Police, Fire, Records, Medical and more.
WATCH: Council grapples with costs of Public Safety move to State Farm building
Though, as the people in charge take a closer look, costs to make the move to the former State Farm building are mounting.
“Worst case scenario … $25 million to get us into phase 1, and another $15 million for phase two,” Tulsa’s public safety commissioner Laurel Roberts said, addressing the city council.
Commissioner Roberts outlined the realities of making the move to the state farm building.
The building was built decades ago, as a call center for State Farm, so it is not up to the standards of a public safety center.
Those standards include a storm shelter that could house hundreds, constructions of secure rooms and reinforced glass.
Roberts laid out a couple of examples.
“So, there’s internal renovations, like Records has to have hard walls, just because of the nature of what it’s storing. But then, there’s other, less secure, less confidential areas where we’re using the demountable partitions, as much as we can,” Roberts said, “Those are all there! Or as many as … we kept with the building.”
There’s also a wild card at play: the potential move of the nearby Mingo Valley Division.
The State Farm building is set to host TPD at large, but it may host the Mingo Valley officers too.
Councilor Christian Bengel wants a clear answer.
“They keep hearing these rumor mills, of Mingo Valley’s in, Mingo Valley’s out. I’m like, look, we need to find a plan, stick with it, and stop changing it. I’m gonna be frank, [that] pisses me off, becuase I felt like we had a good plan, and now I feel like we’re just going in circles,” Bengel said.
There’s also the hotel project. The sooner these agencies can move out, the quicker the hotel can go up by the convention center.
The councilors expressed some surprise at all the changes needed to the State Farm building.
Commissioner Roberts says the city is waiting on final, a-la-carte pricing estimates from the general contractor.
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