City Council to vote July 11 on new facilities

While the Bloomington City Council showed support for Kruzan’s request, the buildings will not be approved until the final vote, expected on July 11 in the City Council Chambers, is completed.\nThe majority of the $2.1 million public safety and community improvement package is a $1.2 million fund for two new department buildings – an indoor small-arms firing range for police officers and a five-story training tower for firefighters.\nThe fire tower has multiple rooms and is equipped with thermal panels specifically designed for repeated fires that can stand up to the continued exposure to heat. It is a technologically advanced building that can endure years of use without maintenance. The tower offers firefighters many different training opportunities and allows for them to explore different approaches to firefighting.\n“In training it can be advantageous to let the fire burn a little bit,” Fire Chief Jeff Barlow said. “We can watch the fire behavior and observe its response to different forms of attack.” \nBarlow said it has always been a struggle to find a structure in the city limits to use for fire training. Safety is also a concern with the abandoned buildings the department has used on rare occasions, and the locations also can prevent proper observation of the fire and reduce the amount firefighters learn from the experience.\nThere will be a classroom in the new facility available for both departments to use when preparing for and critiquing training.\n“Police and Fire (departments) have a good relationship and it gets better everyday,” Barlow said. “We recognized there were synergies in our needs. Rather than duplicate, we decided to build things we both can use.”\nThe Fire Department said their tower is open to the Police Department whenever they need it. The Police Department’s critical incident response team may need the facility in certain training, and the fire department will assist them if needed, he said.\n“If they burn something, we will stand shoulder to shoulder with them in training,” Barlow said.\nThe Police Department is looking forward to the construction of an indoor firing range, a facility that will keep officers in town for training rather than send them out of the county, Police Captain Michael Diekhoff said.\nSince 1996 when the trustees voted to close the University’s firing range, which was also a police training facility, the department has been leaving the city to practice its small-arms training. Plans were drawn up several years ago for an outdoor range but eventually fell apart.\nDiekhoff said now with the range in town, police can train more frequently, and since it is indoors they will not disrupt the surrounding neighborhoods, along with many other advantages.\n“We now will be able to train more frequently,” Diekhoff said. “We can also bring in cars to train with and practice in low light.” \nMayor Mark Kruzan said he was very proud of the combined efforts from the Police and Fire departments, his administration and the city council members in creating plans for the new training facilities. He said this will help keep the community and officers safer by providing state of the art, local training opportunities for the Police and Fire departments.\n“Now (Police and Fire departments) will be able to stay within their service territories so they will be available for local emergencies,” Kruzan said in an e-mail. “It is a significant financial commitment that will pay great dividends.”\nThe unveiling of the new fire tower is expected some time in the next few months, while the firing range will not be ready until spring or summer 2008.