Photos Ron Nunnari | Register-Herald
UNION — A steady stream of residents Saturday attended an Open House from 1 to 3 p.m. at the City of Union’s new police headquarters at 201 W. Martindale Rd.
The city purchased the former Union Methodist Church, which later became Abundant Life Christ Centered Church, for $185,000 in late 2016 and renovated the building using city staff and local sub-contractors to perform a large share of the work.
The former church sanctuary area dates to the late 1850s. The west wing was added to the building in 1961.
Total investment into the church property, renovations and furnishings is $1,152,000.
These improvements were started in late 2018 and paid for over several years from the city’s general fund with city income tax dollars resulting from jobs created in the city’s industrial park adjacent to the Dayton International Airport.
“The City of Union was pleased with community attendance at the Open House for the new police station,” said City Manager John Applegate. “Visitors in attendance expressed appreciation of the city’s preservation, renovation, and repurposing of the former Methodist Church Building.
“Original panels from the stained glass windows were preserved,” Applegate added. “The stained glass was added to the church sanctuary in 1940. It has been repurposed in the interior space with back lighting installed to add vibrancy to the unique colorful hues of green glass.”
The city also received a Montgomery County Community Development Block Grant of nearly $55,000 to install accessible restrooms in the building and a $29,000 Montgomery County Solid Waste District recycling incentive grant for a new metal roof over the original church structure.
Both the interior and exterior were upgraded. The interior features granite countertops and ceramic tile. Exterior upgrades feature stone surrounds for the windows and extensive landscaping and inground accent lights shining upward around the exterior.
With more than 4,700 square feet, the police department is well equipped with room to grow. The new police headquarters is a gem.
The former chapel on the second floor retained the church’s stained glass windows and is now being utilized for training. The room features a projection camera and a large screen for viewing training videos with four rows of tables and a stage at the front of the room.
The back of the room has a kitchentte with cabinets, a sink, microwave oven and a coffee maker. There are separate restroom facilities for men and women on the second floor.
Ground floor features include a large “road room” with computer workstations for patrol officers and an island of cabinets topped with granite. Across the hallway are separate restroom facilities for men and women.
Supervisory personnel have spacious private offices. Chief Mike Blackwell’s office features a private bathroom including a shower.
The lobby area has a single, unisex restroom directly across from the entrance. The ground floor also features a fully equipped breakroom, a dayroom, conference room, kitchen and lobby and an interrogation room.
The building is secure with cameras and alarms and provides the public with a nice open lobby area with entrances from either Martindale Road or S. Montgomery Street at the rear parking lot of the building.
The City has plans to add a sally-port to the property to store police vehicles.
The police department was previously located on the second floor of city hall in very cramped confines.
Reach Ron Nunnari at [email protected].
