DEWEY BEACH, Del. - The former Dewey Beach Town Hall was demolished Thursday morning, Nov. 12, following the opening of a new facility for town government and the police department.
The demolition comes as the town transitions to a new building designed to provide additional space and upgraded facilities for municipal employees and law enforcement. The new police department includes updated offices, interview rooms, a dispatch center, processing areas and three jail cells.
Dewey Beach Police Chief Speake previously said the upgrades were a significant improvement over the former facility.
"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,"Â Speake said.
The new facility project was planned in two phases, with the first phase providing space for town administration and the police department.
The second phase includes a paramedic station for Sussex County Emergency Medical Services.
According to Zolper, Sussex County agreed to contribute $1.5 million toward the project in exchange for the paramedic station. The station is intended to allow emergency medical personnel to respond directly from Dewey Beach rather than traveling through traffic on Route 1 during the busy summer season.
Zolper previously said the two phases of the project would cost approximately $10.5 million combined.
