DEWEY BEACH, Del.- A new home for town government and it's police department is officially open in Dewey Beach.
Upgraded desk, offices, interview rooms, dispatch center and jail cells are here for the police. Chief Speake of Dewey Beach says the police squad is very fortunate. "We have excellent processing area that has three cells that we can separate people. The old facility had a room with a bench on it. That was our jail with the toilet. So this is really basically a modern police facility, as it should be."
Town Manager, Bill Zolper, said both the administration side and police needed the upgrade. "we just outgrew that other building. It was almost 30 years old. The space wasn't big enough for our employees, and the police station wouldn't have passed accreditation that everybody has to pass within the next two years." He explained.
The project is being completed in phases, with the first part complete, phase two is scheduled to start next week, with the help of Sussex County EMS.
“We worked out with them that they would provide us $1.5 million, and we would provide them a paramedic station. So during the summer, they're no longer going to be coming down route one and going through traffic to respond. They can respond right here from Dewey Beach and go north to Rehoboth or south to Bethany.” Zolper said.
Phase one and two combined costed around $10.5 million according to Zolper.
Phase two is set to be complete by April.
