SHARE

Port Chester Takes Tentative Steps Toward New Municipal Center

PORT CHESTER, N.Y. -- Port Chester officials are considering the idea of building a Municipal Center that would house a police station, courts, village government offices and possibly some retail space.

A 3D model of what the proposed municipal center in Port Chester could look like.

A 3D model of what the proposed municipal center in Port Chester could look like.

Photo Credit: STV

The building would be placed at the site of a commercial property at the corner of Poningo Street and Irving Avenue. The concept of building a municipal center on this spot has been a topic of conversation for a couple of years, and came up again recently when the police station began experiencing some maintenance issues. The village contracted the National Development Council (NDC) to help come up with a concept for the building and how the village could move forward with it.

The NDC worked with STV to come up with a preliminary design for what the building would look like, according to Michael Cucchiara of the NDC. The municipal center design was created by meeting with village officials and discussing their space needs. 

"This is really an economic development-type project,: Cucchiara said. "It's not just focused purely on the current municipal needs. It's actually forward-looking in the sense that you would be looking at a facility that could be adapted for future needs, but also in the interim create an economic development catalyst in a part of the downtown and sort of spread some of that economic growth outward from the waterfront."

The four-story building would include a first floor entry that would be about half police offices and half retail space. The second floor would be almost entirely police space, including detention and processing areas, as well as some small space for legislative aides who are currently housed at Port Chester Village Hall. The third floor would be devoted to village offices, and the fourth would be court space, including space for the Town of Rye courts which are currently moving to the Port Chester Court House.

Cucchiara said that there is not yet an estimate on how much the project would cost, and that STV would first need to work with the village to come up with final designs on the project. Previous village estimates have been as high as $24 million, which would include the cost of purchasing the property, and before the village sold off Village Hall and the current police station. The project would take another nine to 12 months to complete the design, and 18 to 24 months to build.

to follow Daily Voice Port Chester and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE