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In a Thursday afternoon press conference at the police headquarters, Stamford Mayor David Martin said the city is moving ahead with plans to purchase property at 671 Bedford St. and complete a land swap with the Stamford Historical Society, which that owns a little under an acre at 713 Bedford St., where the Hoyt Barnum House historic house is located.
"Because of the urgency, we need to get started as soon as possible. There will be delays in this project, and there will be bumps in the road," Martin said during the press conference. But he said it was necessary to go forward.
When he took office after he was elected in 2013, Martin said a new police headquarters would be one of the items he would deal with. But the discovery of asbestos in the building brought a new urgency to the issue.
"I had to move this agenda up much faster than I anticipated," he said.
Martin estimated the cost of the new building would be $50 million to $75 million. He warned that other capital projects in the city would be pushed back due to the construction.
"We will have to delay or extend other important projects or make sacrifices in other areas," he said.
Martin said the city wants to secure $500,000 to update the police department needs assessment and fund initial architectural design and cost estimates for the project.
Pam Coleman, chairman of the Stamford Historical Society's board of directors, said the land swap would be a "win-win" for both the city and the society.
"We would like to move [the Hoyt Barnum House] to a location that is much more visible," she said noting that attendance has dropped at the historic house.
The details still need to be worked out with the city, she said. The the historical society hopes to move the house to its current location at 1508 High Ridge Road.
The city had approached the society to build around the Hoyt Barnum House, but Coleman said it wouldn't be appropriate for the house. The society believed moving the structure would be a better answer.
The site of the current police headquarters could be developed, which could helped alleviate the costs of the new police headquarters, Finance Board Chairman John Louizos said after the press conference.
Martin said the new headquarters could be opened in three years.
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