AUBURN – City police and fire departments could share one central building, according to the chiefs of both departments.

Fire Chief Wayne Werts and police Chief Phil Crowell floated the concept of a public safety building to city councilors last week. It would be one massive building with room for firetrucks, police cars, administration offices and training.

They hope to study the idea over the next year to see if it could work and where a new building could be. Work could begin within two to three years if the idea has merit, Crowell said.

“It’s a trend you’re seeing duplicated in many places across the country,” he said. “You see public safety departments merging their back offices. Each one currently has office managers and administrative assistants that could be shared.”

It would reduce building maintenance budgets and would make cross-department training better, Werts said. And Crowell said it would let the city sell both existing buildings.

“That puts them back on the tax rolls, and we’d only have to operate one building,” he said.

The Auburn Police Department is at 1 Minot Ave. The Central Fire station is at 550 Minot Ave. Crowell said a combined center would likely be between the two.

“There’s a reason why the fire station is where it is, and that has to do with response times and insurance ratings,” he said. But there are other options, including building a new fire station in the New Auburn area.

“There are certainly some benefits to having a greater police presence in New Auburn,” Crowell said.

Crowell said both departments plan to put the cost of a feasibility study in their fiscal year 2008-09 budget requests for city councilors this summer.