BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Every time it rains, spring water bubbles up and soaks the basement floors below the Black Mountain police station.
It’s a good thing they store evidence and important records on higher shelves, Police Chief Steve Parker says.
Upstairs, 27 employees are cramped into about 2,500 square feet of usable office space, Parker says. There are no separate interview rooms for officers to talk to a suspect and a victim at the same time. And storage is cramped with modern police gear and equipment that didn’t exist when the Black Mountain Police Department moved into the old grocery store space 32 years ago.
At Monday night’s Town Council meeting, Parker wrapped up an annual report by sounding an alarm about the obsolete state of his department’s headquarters — replete with “shock and awe” photos of the swamped basement.
“No room for equipment, no room for people…” Parker told the council. “I’m sure that building was more than sufficient 32 years ago. It is not sufficient now.”
At a time when Black Mountain is bracing for latest waves of growth, with a new highway interchange and expansion of nearby Montreat College planned, Parker told 828newsNOW he is hoping the council will fund a facility needs study through its budget process. He hopes that starts the wheels in motion to replace or remodel the police headquarters in the next three to five years.
“I’m just expressing the need to the community and council,” he said. On a scale from one to 10, he said the urgency is “8 or 9.”
But not everyone is convinced. Black Mountain Mayor C. Michael Sobol told 828newsNOW that “they probably do need some more space.” However, he’s skeptical about the need for a new building.
The mayor believes police could open up a satellite office, such as sharing unused space in a public service building that now houses streets, sanitation, water and parks personnel. As for water leaks in the basement, “For sure, fix those,” Sobol said on Tuesday.
But does the department need a new building? “I don’t think we do,” Sobol said.
Police Chief Parker said his push for studying facilities needs is tied to his department’s accreditation process and “making sure we can operate at the highest level and prepare for growth.”
“Currently, I’m having difficulty operating in the environment I’m in,” he said. “If we don’t plan for that growth, it’s going to be about impossible for me to operate.”
The building originally was constructed in the 1950s as an A & P grocery store. When it later was converted into the police headquarters the department had far fewer employees, Parker said.
Over the past three decades, local policing has been complicated by growth along the interstate. The report to the Town Council on Monday included news headlines about cases from across the Asheville metro area that wound up in multi-agency arrests in Black Mountain.
Over the years, police have added staff and new equipment for modern issues, including body cameras, computers, crowd control gear, active shooter gear and more.
Parker said it all adds up to a cramped, obsolete work space. The bottom line: “We’ve aged out of this building.”