Police Chief Jamey McDonald told the Tigard City Council at its Jan. 7 business meeting that when he was hired as a patrol officer in 2001, he was told that the Police Department would be getting a new facility, “so I was excited about that, and I remain excited about that potential today,” he said. Twenty-four years later, the new seven-member City Council took the first step toward that goal by hiring a project director for the long overdue facility.
McDonald explained that the current police facility was built in 1984 when the city’s population was about 22,000, and in 1994 two modular buildings were added.
“Today our population is nearly 60,000, and nearly 100 police employees share this outdated space,” McDonald said. “The Police Department is spread across several locations. Also, Public Works has experienced a reduction in acreage over the years and now operates in a fragmented manner across five different sites.”
Public Works Director Brian Rager, who started his journey with the city in 1996 in the second modular, told the council, “We have consolidated as much as we could at our current administration site at the corner of Burnham and Hall… We’ve been out of room for a while.”
According to Rager, the goal for the project is to build a safe, modern facility designed to withstand a major earthquake or natural disaster, ensuring that first-responders can continue delivering essential services to the community where they are needed the most.
McDonald explained that “our concern as the leaders of your first-responder departments is whether or not the facilities we currently have would be operational so that we could actually be effective to serve. We’re highly concerned that they wouldn’t, which is one of the big priorities for the replacement of these facilities.”
He added that the sooner the city moves forward, the more economical the project would be, and the current facilities are approaching the end of their usable date “beyond where it’s practical to repair.”
In 2024 the city purchased a 9.5-acre property at 13225 S.W. Wall Street as a proposed location for a centralized facility for both the Police Department and Public Works. By combining nine outdated and scattered worksites into one location, the project’s goal is to improve efficiency, cut costs and streamline services.
The city is considering placing a ballot measure on the May 2026 ballot to fund the project, which currently is estimated at $150 million, and the city conducted its first community survey on the project in November 2024. The results showed that 45 percent of residents initially supported the proposed bond measure, and support grew to 53 percent after learning about benefits like better disaster preparedness, cost savings and improved police facilities and accessibility, according to survey consultant Ben Patinkin. A second survey is planned for April 2025.
Rager said that there was a competitive search for a project manager, and an internal team selected Otak, which would be led by David Lintz who brings “significant expertise in managing and delivering projects like the proposed Public Works/Police Department facility.”
The City Council previously approved $15 million for the project to fund the project manager, polling, and architectural and engineering work.
“The project manager will be on board in January with a detailed timeline developed and the architect hired,” said City Manager Steve Rymer. “Community engagement efforts will continue, and events are being planned for early 2025.”
Mayor Heidi Lueb said she found the polling “insightful and helpful” and appreciated the efforts being made to connect with the community such as the Police Department open houses.
The council voted 6 to 0 to hire Otak, with Councilor Yi-Kang Hu opposed because he said he needed more time to study the issue.
The City of Tigard is holding a “Meet the Project Team” event for the new police station and public works facility on Saturday, March 15 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Tigard City Hall, 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223. For more information, visit tigard-or.gov/BuildingaBetterTigard.
