Police Get New Training Facility

From the CapitalGazette Online:

 

Following years of county officials complaining about dilapidated conditions at the Anne Arundel police academy, the Davidsonville facility has gotten a new addition.

Lt. T.J. Smith, a department spokesman, said the addition will be used as a training and multipurpose room.

The 50-by-70-foot structure consists of an insulated fabric exterior on an aluminum frame that sits on a slab from Sprung, a Canadian company, said Matt Diehl, a spokesman for the County Department of Public Works.

The total cost of the project, including the structure and construction, is around $517,000. A final inspection is expected by the end of the week.

Construction of the addition began in April. It will be opened to recruits on Aug. 7, Smith said.

The academy’s former training room was in a missile silo that frequently leaked, leaving the air inside hot and mildewy. All training in the silo was stopped this past spring, Smith said.

The new structure is fully heated and air-conditioned, Diehl said.

The 17-acre campus was built as a Nike missile site during the Cold War. A second missile silo was shut down by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 2002.

The addition comes after County Executive Laura Neuman vowed last July to replace the 60-year-old facility.

The news was first broken by Police Chief Kevin Davis, who tweeted a photo of the addition Monday morning.

Former Police Chief Larry Tolliver began lobbying county officials to replace the academy in fall 2012. Tolliver retired in May of last year; Davis was appointed last July.