Roswell’s police officers and firefighters are now under one roof on Holcomb Bridge Road, as the city cuts the ribbon on a new Public Safety Headquarters that leaders say will tighten communication and sharpen coordination out in the field. The city converted an existing office complex into a unified campus, giving both departments more administrative elbow room and space for specialized support units.
What’s Inside The New Headquarters
Instead of starting from bare dirt, the city bought nearly nine acres near Georgia 400 and Holcomb Bridge Road and repurposed the Summit office buildings. The revamped campus includes a crime lab, an attached building with a gym, an evidence warehouse and a garage for the traffic and motorcycle unit, according to WSB-TV.
Inside, the selling point is proximity. Roswell Police Chief James Conroy said, “That communication is much smoother and easier,” now that his team can quickly link up with fire personnel. Fire Chief Pabel Troche echoed that benefit, noting crews are “having meetings a lot closer because we can just walk across the hallway.”
For longtime resident Kim Owens, who turned out for the ribbon-cutting, the upgrade felt overdue. She told WSB-TV she was “so excited” because the old digs had been “a sardine can,” a sentiment plenty of cramped staffers are unlikely to argue with.
Funding And Related Upgrades
The move is bankrolled by a voter-approved 2022 Public Safety Bond that Roswell has been using for a slate of safety projects. That same bond is paying for the city’s new E-911 Emergency Communications Center and the planned relocation of two fire stations to the north and east parts of Roswell, according to the City of Roswell’s news site, Roswell Connections.
Timeline And Costs
To get employees out of the “sardine can” as fast as possible, the city handled the purchase and renovation in phases, moving people into improved spaces while construction continued elsewhere on the campus. FOX 5 Atlanta reported the project is part of a roughly $52 million bond package and that the city paid about $8 million, plus roughly $600,000 in closing costs, for the Summit property. Police moved in first, while remaining elements such as holding cells and sallyports are still being finished.
City leaders say the consolidated setup should shorten handoffs between dispatch, investigators and response teams while giving detectives and evidence technicians a more modern workspace. Officials expect the remaining construction and the fire station relocations to wrap up in the months ahead and say the overall upgrades will strengthen emergency response across Roswell neighborhoods.
