Photo by Sydney Cromwell
City officials, members of the Homewood City Council and police officers ceremonially turn the first shovels of dirt on the future police headquarters property. The City of Homewood's Police Department held a June 7, 2018, groundbreaking for its future headquarters on Bagby Drive.
Homewood’s new police headquarters will be completed this year, while construction at Homewood’s schools will continue into 2020.
Planning and construction began in 2017 to create a West Homewood public safety headquarters, replacing the downtown facility, and accommodate higher enrollment in city schools.
Homewood Police Sgt. John Carr said the police headquarters is set to be finished around August or September 2019. The facility will bring the police, courts system, jail and training together with more square footage and parking for both employees and the public.
The project costs $22 million.
The $55 million expansion and renovation project at Homewood City Schools has staggered completion dates. A first round of construction was completed at the start of the 2018-19 school year, and the new track surface was completed in November.
HCS spokesperson Merrick Wilson said the addition at Homewood Middle School should wrap up in January, while the two-story addition on the north side of Homewood High School will be under construction until February 2020. That addition is the biggest single part of the project, adding fine arts and athletics wings as well as more classroom space.
A second package for the high school — including renovations of the cafeteria, media center, science labs and interior expansion of the weight room — has not yet been bid out. A package of elementary school work was also scheduled to bid at the end of the year.
That package includes classroom additions at Hall-Kent and Edgewood; cafeteria expansion at Shades Cahaba and Edgewood; electrical work at Shades Cahaba and Edgewood; roof work at Hall-Kent and Edgewood; and flooring for the media centers at all three schools.
Updates on the school construction can be found at homewood.k12.al.us under“HCS Facilities.”
The city will also seek a $1.4 million loan in 2019 to begin construction of an addition to Homewood Public Library.
This story is part of our Year in Preview. See more here.
