GREENWOOD, Ind. -- The Greenwood Police Department has a new temporary home, landing the chief and assistant chief in the principal’s office.
“I can tell you, I spent a lot of time in those offices on the other side of the desks. So it’s going to be a little different sitting on the good side of the desk for a while,” explained Assistant Chief Matt Fillenwarth.
While the department, at 186 Surina Way, is being renovated, officers are working out of the old Greenwood Middle School building, at 523 S. Madison Avenue. Greenwood’s new middle school welcomed students for the first time this August. It’s located at 1584 Averitt Road.
Meanwhile, in the old building, the detectives are in the nurse’s office and the administrative staff is in the front office. Officers will do roll call in the old art room. Interview rooms are lined with bookshelves.
While the placements might make you chuckle, the renovation work is serious business.
“Our building is in dire need of some major renovations and repairs. When it was built 30 years ago, it fit the needs of the police department then – we used to have our own crime lab, we used to have a dispatch center in there. Those are all areas of the building that need to be torn out. Heating and air system are really antiquated and we’re spending 10’s of thousands a year just trying to patch it together,“ said Fillenwarth.
The renovation is being funded by a portion of the city of Greenwood’s $4 million bond and could take 9 months to a year to complete.
“We’ve been in that building for 30 years so just getting rid of the old files, that’s been a multi-year process,” said Fillenwarth. “Since we’re a 24/7 agency, you can’t just shut everything down so you have to identify essential and non-essential processes and then get the plan in place to get the infrastructure of the building first so we can gradually get everything over here."
Officers began moving the IT equipment Tuesday. The department was functional in the new space by Thursday.
“It’ll be a big change,” he said, “I’ve been driving to our police department every morning for work for 30 years. I guarantee I’ll be driving the first couple days to the old police department and then realize we’re at the middle school.”
On the other side of the old Greenwood Middle School, you’ll find Greenwood’s court employees. They’re currently working out of the library.
