BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The Bloomfield Board of Aldermen is considering a variety of options for the site where the Bloomfield Police Department once stood.
Located at 202 Salem St. in Bloomfield, the building burned in the overnight hours of Saturday, Jan. 18. The police department had already moved from the building into City Hall on Prairie St. as a result of a mold discovery inside the building.
While the lot has been cleared since the fire, the building still leaves the board facing key decisions in the months to come. Chief among those decisions is whether or not a new facility should be erected in its place.
The board learned earlier in the year that if they choose to rebuild at the site, they will receive a larger amount of money from the insurance company. If they simply leave the lot as is, the aldermen can expect approximately $130,000 for the destroyed building.
Should they choose to build again, they could receive as much as $170,000.
The board has explored a variety of options for the location.
First, there was discussion about the possibility of erecting a metal building that could be home to the library. They would be able to have a ground level location that is handicap accessible.
Under that scenario, the police department could then be moved into the current home of the library. That option would give the police department additional privacy and space, while separating them from City Hall.
At Monday night's meeting, Mayor Donna Medlin suggested that the proper decision might be to consider a standard building. She was awaiting quotes from multiple construction people in the area.
Medlin said her hope was to house the library and City Hall inside the new building, as well as a conference room that could be used for council meetings.
"Then we could leave the police department in this building," Medlin said.
Medlin said her chief concern is that they get something started soon before they run into some type of time-related hitch.
"I think we need to get started with something with that money," she said.
Aldermen Kim Johnson stated that she was concerned a new building at that location would not solve what she views to be the largest problem at the current City Hall.
"The biggest problem here is parking," she said. "I like that you can drive around the building to pay the water bill, but I don't see that parking over there is going to be better."
Alderman Tonya Roper voiced her own concerns about constructing a single-level structure at the since-vacated site. Roper said she is concerned that local children could be playing all over the roof because the building would be up against a neighboring street that would be approximately roof high.
"If we did a two-story building, we could have the library in the bottom and City Hall upstairs," Roper said. "I just want to make sure we're not building something just for the sake of doing it."
Medlin agreed that a multi-level structure may be something worth exploring, but said she feels something "needs to be done soon."
"I want you all to be thinking about what you want to do and have something solid we can work with at our next meeting," Medlin said.
The issue was tabled until the board is scheduled to meet again on Monday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m.