Bloomfield Township voters head to the polls on November 3 to decide the fate of a $50 million bond that would tear down and rebuild the township's police station and Fire Station #3, two buildings that have stood since 1960 and, officials say, can no longer keep up with modern emergency response. Inside the current police station, an interview room sits right next to the reception area, and conversations held there can be overheard by people waiting out front, according to Police Chief James Gallagher. At Fire Station #3, firefighters store their turnout gear out in the open in the apparatus bay, even though toxic residue from fire scenes can cling to that gear and expose crews to hazardous contaminants inside the building.
The ballot measure caps off months of planning. As reported by Bloomfield Township, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the ballot language at its August 10 meeting, formally placing the $50 million Public Safety Infrastructure Bond before voters. The township plans to pair that bond money with $23 million pulled from existing capital reserves, covering the full cost of rebuilding both facilities without a separate tax request for other municipal building needs.
Both buildings date to 1960, with only minor additions tacked on in the 1970s and 1990s, and neither was designed with female officers or firefighters in mind — meaning no dedicated locker rooms or sleeping quarters exist for them, per the township. That history shows up in the day-to-day friction officials describe. Gallagher told The Detroit News that the station's roll call room routinely gets pressed into service for tasks it was never meant to handle, while a small room meant for charging radios and other devices leaves little room to spare. The department's dated dispatch room, four adult holding cells and a single juvenile cell round out a building that officers say has simply been outgrown.
Detectives Working Elbow to Elbow
The detective bureau crowds ten cubicle workstations into a room with little privacy for sensitive casework, the same Detroit News report found. Getting a patrol car in or out isn't much easier — the station's sally port only allows one vehicle through at a time, creating what Gallagher described as procedural logjams during busy shifts.
Fire Station #3 has its own space crunch. Fire Chief John LeRoy said the apparatus bay can just barely fit a fire engine and a paramedic engine parked side by side, and Engine 3 itself barely squeezes in — larger ladder trucks don't fit at all. A laundry and storage room still holds turnout gear waiting to be washed, the workout room is described as extremely cramped, and firefighters sleep in several small, dorm-like rooms built decades before today's staffing needs.
Why One Station Matters So Much
The stakes for Fire Station #3 extend well beyond the building itself. Located at 4151 W. Maple Road, the station delivers advanced life support emergency medical care to roughly 46% of the township's population, according to the Michigan Senate, and its coverage area includes Oakland Hills Country Club and Bloomfield Village. A professional architectural space-needs analysis cited by the Michigan Senate found the station needs at least 12,500 square feet to function as a modern emergency response facility — more than double its current 6,750 square feet — and concluded the existing building cannot be feasibly renovated to get there.
If voters approve the bond, the project would trigger a broader shuffle of township buildings. Under the site reallocation plan, the new police station would rise in the parking lot between Township Hall and the 48th District Court, freeing up space for Bloomfield Community Television to relocate into Township Hall. BCTV's former building would then be renovated to include a dog run for Animal Welfare, the township's announcement notes.
Cost to Homeowners and What Comes Next
The proposed 20-year bond carries an estimated average tax rate of 0.4380 mills, starting at 0.2350 mills in its first year. For a homeowner with a taxable value of $294,450, that works out to roughly $128.96 per year, per the township. Construction on both facilities is scheduled to begin in 2027 and wrap up in late 2029, assuming voters give their approval next month.
To help residents weigh that cost, police and fire officials organized 30-minute public tours in October of the current police station at 4200 Telegraph Road and of Fire Station #3, giving voters a firsthand look at the conditions driving the proposal before they cast ballots. The bond is a separate ask from the township's operational funding — voters already renewed Public Safety Millage No. 1, a 1.8428-mill levy expected to raise roughly $11 million annually for day-to-day expenses, on the August 4 primary ballot, according to C & G Newspapers. The November bond, by contrast, is strictly aimed at capital construction for the two aging stations.
