DRUMRIGHT — Drumright city officials made the decision to take the first step toward what could become a new public safety center.
During a recent meeting, the Drumright City Commissioners approved an agreement with Renaissance Architecture, LLC for architectural design services. City Manager Shawn Gibson said the agreement marks the beginning of the planning process for the possible facility.
'We are wanting to start building a new public safety center in 2028,' Gibson said. 'This is the first step in planning for that project.'
The proposed facility would have the police department, fire department, dispatch center, and city jail under one roof with intentions to replace aging facilities currently used by the city’s emergency responders. According to Fire Chief Brett Lunsford, neither the fire nor police department is currently operating from buildings designed for public safety.
Lunsford said the fire department is housed in a building that served as a car dealership from the 1940s through the 1990s. The nearly 100-year-old structure lacks the needs of modern fire operations.
“It does not have the needed spaces that help the fire department operate seamlessly. It is also very difficult to park apparatus in,” said Lunsford.
Meanwhile, the police department operates out of the former city hall building, which Lunsford said also falls short of meeting the department's needs with no room for a jail and having a retrofitted dispatch in the limited available space.
Gibson said the condition of the buildings has already created operational challenges.
'The buildings are in bad shape,' he said. 'We had to close the jail and move dispatch because of water damage. We combined dispatch into the police department and built a temporary single-cell jail. This is not something the city just wants to do — it is something the city is going to have to do.”
Lunsford said the project would provide long-term benefits for both emergency responders and residents.
'A new building would help the community,” he said, “More importantly ensure public safety service will have a dependable home for the next 50 years.”
He expressed expectations of the plans for the new facility to include larger apparatus bays for the fire department, an updated dispatch and 911 center designed specifically for emergency communications, secure evidence storage for police, a new jail, a dedicated training room and an emergency operations center. As well as serving as the meeting location for the commissioners and having a hardened room that could be used during severe weather.
Although the architectural agreement has been approved, city officials emphasized the project remains in the exploratory phase. According to Gibson, funding options are still being discussed and construction is not expected to begin until 2028.
Gibson said the anticipated timeline for the overall project is approximately two to three years, with future decisions to be made during regular city commission meetings. He added that the city may also hold public meetings dedicated to the project in the future to give residents an opportunity to review plans, ask questions and provide input as development moves forward.