LEWISTON — After some delays, the Lewiston Police Department will move into its new headquarters at Bates Mill No. 7 by May 1, officials said.
According to City Administrator Brian O’Malley, furniture is being delivered this week and the city has tentatively planned a ribbon-cutting event for April 17 “if things have progressed by that time.”
The new station has been a long time coming for the department, which was initially slated to move into the renovated building last summer.
Officials last year said the process to turn the office building and former mill into a police station — or “Category 4” building — led to “considerable cost overruns” caused by the stringent code requirements for such buildings.
In April 2024, the city amended its lease agreement with the owner of the building, Tom Platz, due to a higher-than-anticipated price tag for renovating the building into a police station. The cost of the building rehabilitation, once estimated at $12 million, was expected to cost $15.16 million.
The projected cost increase shifted the city’s monthly lease payment from $82,547 to $115,993 in the agreement.
Asked about the cause of the delays, Platz said Thursday, “Mostly just complications with the soil, and pile driving related to the foundation at the beginning of the project.”
O’Malley said since that time there have been additional costs, which have been paid for using drug forfeiture funds. In November 2024 the police department used $300,000 in drug forfeiture money to pay for furniture, signs, moving costs and furnishings, which was approved by the City Council.
The city initially entered into the agreement with Platz in 2022 after a building assessment was conducted in 2021 at the current police station building at 171 Park St. That study estimated building a new police headquarters would cost between $36 and $38 million.
The amended lease agreement is for nine years, with the option for the city to extend three times for a total of 27 years. It also includes an option for the city to purchase the building.
Mayor Carl Sheline said Thursday that with the ribbon-cutting upcoming, “I appreciate the unrelenting determination of Platz Associates, Hebert Construction, and the Lewiston Police Department, especially Lt. Theiss, who all came together to overcome the numerous obstacles presented during the construction timeline.”
“Not since the Egyptian pyramids has the completion of a public project been so anticipated,” he said.
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