Nashville Police and the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office insist the time has come relocate. Both are just a stone’s throw from the criminal courthouse. The two departments are trying to explain why it makes sense to be anywhere else.
The police chief and sheriff say their shared facility – built just 34 years ago – already needs a total renovation, which would cost nearly $130 million. For $20 million more, the departments say they could do better starting over.
“It is clear that something must be done to address the critical problems in our facilities,” Sheriff Daron Hall said in a statement.
“Rather than expensively patching an aging building, I believe that Nashville would be best served with a unique new headquarters building,” police chief Steve Anderson said.
The sheriff’s office would go south and consolidate all operations on Harding Place near Metro Animal Control. Metro Police has a site picked out on Jefferson Street in North Nashville. While neither are anywhere near the criminal courthouse where officers frequently have to appear, both departments say the new facilities will create efficiencies by being more easily accessible.
Asked by reporters, Mayor Karl Dean denies the relocation has much if anything to do with freeing up prime real estate by the courthouse for redevelopment.
“It’s really less to do with this property than it is to handle the criminal justice aspect of this correctly and to take advantage of setting up a process where our criminal justice infrastructure needs are met for the next few decades,” Dean said.
If the Metro Council signs off on the plan, Dean says it will be up the next administration to decide what to do with the downtown property.
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