Santa Barbara’s new state-of-the-art police station is ready to break ground — with an estimated total construction cost of a little more than $121 million — following City Council’s unanimous approval of the construction contract on Tuesday. The new station, which is financed through voter-approved Measure C funds, will replace the current 65-year-old building and bring all police operations under one roof.
Police Chief Kelly Gordon took over the department two years ago when the project was already in the planning stages, but she said as soon as she arrived, she recognized how important the new police station would be for the department and the community.
The current station was built in 1959 and had never been upgraded to today’s accessibility and seismic safety standards. It had been designed “for a much smaller community and a much smaller police department,” Chief Gordon said, forcing Santa Barbara Police to spread its operations to four different locations across the city.
The new 65,000-square-foot station, she said, will have everything a modern department needs to police a mid-sized community like Santa Barbara: 9-1-1 dispatch center, a community room, training room, evidence room, forensic laboratory, shooting range, and fitness area.
“Really, it’s a very exciting moment for us to actually break ground and actually see this moving forward,” Gordon said.
Principal Project Planner Brad Hess guided the project through the long road of planning, design, and review. He explained how the police station had been at the top of the city’s wish list since 2017, when it was a major selling point for the passing of Measure C.
As soon as the measure passed, the city began the planning process, starting with a deep look into the police department, what type of facility it needed, and how much space it would require. The city looked into 20 different sites, evaluated six, and finally narrowed it down to two. After studying both, the decision was made to opt for a city-owned commuter lot on Cota Street.
The next challenge was finding a new location for the Santa Barbara Farmers’ Market, which used the same parking lot every Saturday. This was a contentious process, with standing-room-only meetings and hours of public discourse over the new location.
By the time the development plan was approved in 2022, the project was estimated to cost around $92 million.
Since then, the city changed the way it chose contractors for large projects, allowing for the “best value” as opposed to the “lowest responsible bidder.” This change, Hess said, allowed the city to go for contractors that fit the city and project’s specific needs.
Starting with a list of 10 contractors, the city narrowed it down to two options in October 2024. Both contractors were interviewed and evaluated on a 1,000-point scale based on relevant experience, contract schedule, competency, labor compliance, and safety record. ProWest Constructors of Goleta was chosen to have the “best value.”.
ProWest Constructors has already successfully completed projects in Santa Barbara both for Cottage Hospital and UC Santa Barbara and has a proven record for dealing with the state’s strict regulations. The county recently chose it to construct the new downtown probation building just six blocks away.
The city will host a ceremonial groundbreaking later this month, but construction is scheduled to begin in January 2025, with a completion date of April 2027.
Officially, the base construction contract is $95,998,811. After factoring in additional costs, city-sponsored insurance, supplies, and contingencies, the total comes in at more than $121 million.
The city will pay for construction using lease revenue bonds to be paid off with $8 million a year over a 30-year span, and the payments will account for about a quarter of the city’s Measure C funds each year. Finance Director Keith DeMartini said the city has an “excellent credit rating,” and was in the “best position possible to issue debt with a favorable rate.”
