When the voters of Salt Lake City approved the construction of a new safety building, it presented a great opportunity for all police, fire and emergency staff to be housed in one building. But with the consolidation of three entities came the challenge of combining all the tools, weapons storage, police officer gear storage, files evidence and archives into a single building. In addition, as part of the mandate, the new building was required to be located within a specific distance from city hall locating it in downtown. Cost per square foot was expensive in this downtown real estate making it vital that this new building maximize as much space as it could to function efficiently and effectively.
Salt Lake City Public Safety Building
Public Safety Building Challenged by Consolidation of Three Departments and Offered Unique Police Officer Gear Storage Solutions
Tim Doubt, deputy chief, Salt Lake City Police Department was tasked with the project management of the new safety building. After consulting with various architects and builders, it was clear storage was going to be one of the project’s biggest challenges. “We didn’t want to waste a lot of space for a building by putting in storage rooms. So we wanted storage that was smart,” he says.
In addition, the team didn’t want to build a police department with a warehouse attached to it, adds Bill Silver, detective, Salt Lake City Police Department.
“We didn’t want to waste a lot of space for a building by putting in storage rooms. So we wanted storage that was smart.”
– Tim Doubt, deputy chief, Salt Lake City Police Department
Familiar with Spacesaver from previous projects, Doubt turned to Spacesaver to minimize—or even eliminate—the space issue. The officer gear storage lockers enticed the team because these could easily house all the equipment SWAT staff needed to store. A bench was customized at the end of each locker to allow SWAT staff to sit, put on equipment, and for others to convene in the area at the same time.
Located in an area with seismic concerns, the building was designed and built to withstand a 7.5 earthquake. And because this is the emergency response building, it was imperative that the building be able to withstand an earthquake but also operate through an earthquake and after, Doubt adds.
The building is constructed on a 5 ½ ft. concrete and rebar foundation with iron columns throughout the building. These iron columns, though important to the overall structure of the building, required the high-density shelving units to be custom designed to go around them. In addition, rails were drilled into the concrete construction making them more secure; and all mobile systems were outfitted with Seismic L Rail for an anti-tip solution. This prevented the system from overturning in places where the mobile systems are taller than they are wide. The items located inside the storage systems are also secure and at minimal risk for damage should an earthquake occur.
“We have so many pieces of equipment from firearms, Tasers, Taser cameras, all the different attachments, and all the tools—it was a storage nightmare,” says Scott Teelink, lieutenant, Salt Lake City Police Department. “Working with Spacesaver and finding the right way to store all those items was a huge improvement in how we store things and also saved a lot of the room we needed to store those things in.”
The end result is an architecturally beautiful building that efficiently allows three emergency response teams to operate and have adequate police officer storage in the ideal location of downtown Salt Lake City.
“Working with Spacesaver and finding the right way to store all those items was a huge improvement in how we store things and also saved a lot of the room we needed to store those things in.”
– Scott Teelink, lieutenant, Salt Lake City Police Department
