KENMORE, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Village of Kenmore is preparing to open its new, "state-of-the-art" police station building on Elmwood Avenue.
Kenmore Police have been operating out of a temporary facility across the street, and I got a "sneak peek" of what the new police station will mean for the Kenmore community.
"We're very excited, my staff and I, we've been waiting for this for quite some time,” said Village of Kenmore Police Chief Thomas Phillips.
The new police station replaced a building built back in 1951, and now, as you enter this new two-story facility, it’s clear to see – it’s ready to provide modern-day policing.
"It's been a long time coming," Chief Phillips said. "It's been needed for many years."
Chief Phillips has been leading the planning and project for five years. Construction began in the spring of 2024 and ended on September 16.
Police will begin working in the new building on September 22. The building is designed for safety and community access.
"The whole point of this is to give us more square footage in a place we can welcome the community into our facility and give people a look to see what we do and get an understanding of what we do for the community,” Chief Phillips said.
The police station is also designed to process criminals with an all-new lockup area.
"So, the design of the building was focused on safe separation of people that will be utilizing this facility and more welcoming for visitors,” Chief Phillips described.“Hopefully, it's very inviting to the public, and they'll be wanting, you know, the use of facilities in the police station.”
Chief Phillips described the police station as a “traditional precinct."
“People walking here on a daily basis — they come here for their handicap parking tags. They come here to file complaints. We have a lot of visitors, and we want to make sure that it was readily accessible to them,” said Chief Phillips.
Village of Kenmore Mayor Patrick Mang joined our tour of the new facility. He told me it has been a “long process."
“It's been well worth it, as you can see from the outside, it's just a beautiful building,” said Mayor Mang. “Something that we want the community to feel positive about."
The price tag of the new building jumped from more than $6 million to double digits. Mayor Mang told me the cost rose to $11 million; however, the village received about $5.7 million in various state and federal dollars.
"It was a high price tag, but this is not like building a big box store," Mayor Mang said. "The security and the safety measures that have to be instituted into this building are, you know, this building is bulletproof.”
The police station also features new amenities for employees, with a workout area and a beautiful skylight.
There is a total of 45 staffers, which includes 26 police officers. The new building also caters to female staff members. The former building was never built with females in mind, and over the years, makeshift areas were created in the former police station.
A female locker room has been added in the new facility. There are currently six full-time female staffers.
“Symbolizes – hey, we're here to stay," Mayor Mang said. "The police station is here to stay, and you can you can count on us being here for you. Maybe view the police as differently – that the police are here in this community to help us and to seek out that help and not be afraid to come to this building and get the answers they want.”
The entire police team will be working in this brand-new building come Monday, and they will be holding a big ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 1.
