The City of Dallas is making plans for a bond package that will go before voters in 2024. This week, the city is hosting a series of town hall meetings.
Dallas Police and Fire have laid out initial priorities for the bond. Police say their needs total $462 million dollars. Dallas Fire Rescue is asking for $265 million.
The money for police would include $5.7 million for maintenance and renovations at five stations.
Dallas Police would also use $25 to $50 million to build a new training academy at UNT Dallas. The training academy could cost $150 million; Dallas Police say the rest of the money would come from state funds and grants.
"The new facility will be a great recruiting tool," says Deputy Chief William Griffith. "We will be able to recruit the best knowing we'll be training in a state of the art facility."
The department would use $95 million to build a facility to house a property room, auto pound and crime scene materials. Dallas Police would use $66 million to replace its Central Patrol station, traffic and tactical buildings. The department would use $32 million for a driver training facility and another $32 million for a patrol station.
Dallas Fire Rescue would renovate or expand seven stations, buy land for five additional stations and renovate or expand 32 existing stations.
Dallas Fire Rescue says it has 21 facilities that are more than 50 years old. The department says 39 of its 59 current stations are less than 12,000 square feet, which the department says is the industry standard.
The department says it would study call volume and response times to determine if new stations should be moved.
"We're also looking at if we move a station a couple blocks down, does that change response times to make it better?" says Dallas Fire Rescue Chief Dominique Artis. "Can these stations be expanded? That's also a part of it."
Dallas Fire Rescue has identified five locations for potential stations. Three are in southwest Dallas, one is in southeast Dallas, and the fifth is in the northeastern part of the city.
The City of Dallas has a series of public meetings this week where people can learn more about potential items for the bond:
Tuesday, June 6
District 9: 6 p.m., Ridgewood Recreation Center, 6818 Fisher Rd., Dallas, TX 75214
District 8: 6 p.m., Singing Hills Recreation Center, 6805 Patrol Way, Dallas, TX 75241
Wednesday, June 7
District 3: 6 p.m.: Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center, 5150 Mark Trail Way, Dallas, TX 75232
Thursday, June 8
District 11: 6 p.m., Prism Center (District Office), 5580 Peterson Lane, Suite 175, Dallas, TX, 75240
People can learn more about the 2024 bond online at the Dallas City Hall website.
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