The flag was hoisted into the air on Nov. 19, crowning the long-awaited new headquarters of the Maitland Police Department. The new station will allow the whole police department to be under the same roof for the first time, and replaces the 30-plus-year-old station on Independence Avenue.
“Today begins a new era for the police department,” Maitland Police Chief Doug Ball said at the dedication of the Edward Doyle Police Headquarters, which was attended by about 200 citizens, police officers and elected officials on Thursday, Nov. 19. Flowers said it will be an incredible advantage for all the investigations and operations staff to be in the same place.
The new station has on-site holding cells and interview rooms, complete with video and audio recordings fed into a room on the other side of the one-way mirror. The station was named after Edward “Butch” Doyle, the city’s chief from 1989 through November 2008. A beaming Doyle thanked the department for honoring him and his late father, who was also a Maitland officer. Looking to the sky at the podium, Doyle smiled and said, “Dad we did great.”
The city did pretty great too — the station finished about $300,000 under budget and is the city’s first “green building,” being LEED Silver Certified. That savings will be returned to the fund that will be put toward building the city’s new fire station and city hall. All three projects were approved by voters in 2004.
Maitland Fire Chief Ken Neuhard silently watched from the police station lobby as the ceremony outside came to a close. His fire station on Independence Avenue was also built in 1974, along with city hall. He said he can’t wait to be in Ball’s shoes, when his department gets its new station. He may not have to wait too long.
The police station was completed in 10 months, and Mayor Doug Kinson said he hopes the city will break ground on both the fire station and city hall projects within a year.
“This is a building we can be proud of for all time,” Kinson said at the ceremony.
