photo by: Mike Yoder

Capt. Anthony Brixius, interim Lawrence police chief, left, speaks during an opening ceremony for the department's new headquarters at 5100 Overland Drive, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.

Wearing dress uniforms complete with white gloves, Lawrence police department command staff unfolded the U.S. flag and sent it slowly up the flagpole in front of the department’s new headquarters Monday, officially marking the building’s opening.

In the crowd gathered along the road in front of the nearly $20 million headquarters were former police chiefs, city staff members, city commissioners and other local leaders. Interim Police Chief Capt. Anthony Brixius thanked all those who worked on and supported the project, and he said the building and the long-discussed goal of uniting police staff under one roof would benefit the department and the community.

“This is such a historic occasion for us, and it will forever change the way that we are able to serve our community,” Brixius said.

The approximately 50,000-square-foot building will bring the department’s investigations and patrol divisions together, which Brixius has said will increase daily communication and interaction and help solve crimes. The building has a public entrance in the front and a staff entrance in the back that enters onto a break room for all department personnel. In addition to the tall windows at the front entrance, there are glass walls between different areas within the building.

photo by: Mike Yoder

The investigations division is pictured in the new Lawrence police department headquarters at 5100 Overland Drive, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.

photo by: Mike Yoder

A patrol officers briefing area, right, and patrol workstations, left, are located on the north side of the new Lawrence police department headquarters at 5100 Overland Drive, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Former Lawrence Police Chief Ron Olin tours the public lobby of the department’s new headquarters at 5100 Overland Drive, after an opening ceremony for the new building Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.

Brixius specifically thanked former Police Chief Tarik Khatib, who he said envisioned the project 10 years ago.

“He had a vision and a passion to unite this department so they could better serve this community,” Brixius said. “And when you walk through this building, you’ll see so many spaces where people can meet up and have conversations, and that’s a tribute to Chief Khatib’s vision.”

Police have long said their facilities were inadequate, but the idea of a new headquarters stalled after Lawrence voters narrowly rejected a 0.2% citywide sales tax to fund a $28 million police headquarters in 2014. A less expensive, multiphase project on property the city already owned was proposed by former City Manager Tom Markus, and the City Commission voted in 2017 to increase property taxes to fund the project. Commissioners voted in the fall of 2019 to spend another $1 million on the project and in April of this year to spend another $378,000 — in both cases from unspent funds in the police department’s budget — bringing the project’s total cost to about $19.9 million.

Under the initial budget, the first phase of the building, which leaves room for future expansion, was to include a significant amount of unfinished or “shelled” space. The additional funding allowed more functions and personnel to move into the building. With the exception of training for recruits, the headquarters will now house all police operations, including patrol, investigations, records, IT, administration, evidence and the crime lab. It also includes a fitness center for the department’s staff.

The expansion allows the department to move out of the downtown law enforcement center it has shared with Douglas County. An outbuilding near the new headquarters stores large police vehicles, which were formerly stored at a city-owned building on Stone Barn Terrace. Training will continue to occur at the department’s Investigations and Training Center in west Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Yoder

An investigations training area is pictured in the new Lawrence police department headquarters at 5100 Overland Drive, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.

photo by: Mike Yoder

A child-safe interview room is pictured in the new Lawrence police department headquarters at 5100 Overland Drive, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.

photo by: Mike Yoder

An outbuilding for vehicles that are part of the Lawrence police department’s critical response unit is pictured at the department’s new headquarters at 5100 Overland Drive, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.

The headquarters is located on a portion of a 29-acre parcel of city-owned land at 5100 Overland Drive, which is behind the Walmart near Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive. The property also contains several acres of city parkland, including a 1.25-mile trail that is open to the public and has an access point from the headquarters building for police department staff. The city plans to add more features to the park in the future.

Mayor Brad Finkeldei also addressed the crowd as part of Monday’s ceremony. Finkeldei, who joined the City Commission last year, said the vote in 2017 was an important vote for the police department and the city. He said that on his tour of the building, he saw a detective and an officer who were meeting each other face to face for the first time, which he said illustrated the impact of the building.

“If I think about what it will mean for the morale of this department, what it will mean for investigations, what it will mean for public safety, it is really a momentous occasion,” Finkeldei said. “It’s just huge for this city.”

photo by: Mike Yoder

Lawrence police officers and trainees participate in a ceremony for the opening of the department’s new headquarters at 5100 Overland Drive, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.