Police begin relocation to Richmond Road station
By BENJAMIN C. SHARP bensharp@journal-spectator.com

Staff Photo by Benjamin Sharp Wharton police team up to lift this shelf onto a trailer bound for the new police station on Richmond Road. Department staff began moving items this past week. Pictured, from left, are Detective Don Falks, Sgt. Justin Moran and Detective Grady Smith.

With plans to open their new facility to the public by this coming Thursday, Wharton Police Department officials got a jump this week on the moving process.

From patrol officers to the Chief of Police himself, everyone pitched in, packing boxes, hauling shelves and making countless trips between the current Fulton Street station and the soon-to-be-opened Richmond Road facility.

"We're trying to get moved over what we can and just leave the critical things until Tuesday. We have to rely on the staff to chip in and do it," said Chief Tim Guin.

"We're hoping it will be as smooth as possible."

The process will be made easier due to a new communications system.

Using Department of Homeland Security and Houston-Galveston Area Council grant funds, the police department recently purchased new consoles and other equipment. Instead of installing those in the current building, it was decided to wait until the new location was ready and simply put it in there.

Staff Photo by Benjamin Sharp City employee Steve Salazar uses a power washer to clean the windows of the new police station on Richmond Road.

That means much of the current - and now outdated - dispatch electronics will not have to be moved.

"The timing was very good in that H-GAC was already replacing the 9-1-1 equipment," Guin said.

An added benefit is that by not having to relocate the 9-1-1 system, dispatchers will be able to continue to broadcast from their current location even as the new system is being brought on line at 1407 N. Richmond Road.

"We're going to be able to keep both locations up as we move over," Guin said.

The department's administrative offices, however, will not be able to stay open.

Those offices - along with the offices of Municipal Court, which is also moving to the new facility - will be closed Monday through Wednesday.

Normal operating hours are supposed to resume at the new facility on Thursday. That gives the department little time to make the transition, not to mention that the new facility has dozens of loose ends left in the construction process. Much of the building is only partially complete, making it hard to believe the site will be ready for the public in just a few days.

Guin said the move-in date was established earlier and his department will do the best it can operating in an unfinished building.