Which 10 locations are in the running to become the Akron Police Department headquarters?

The St. Thomas Hospital campus, the former Akron Beacon Journal building, the Morley Health Center and several University of Akron properties are among the finalists to become the Akron Police Department's new home.

The city of Akron has narrowed its list of sites for a new police headquarters to 10 locations, city spokeswoman Stephanie Marsh shared Monday via email.

The 10 sites were pulled from a larger list of 23 locations, all of which were chosen by city leaders, selected from a request-for-proposals (RFP) process or recommended by the University of Akron (UA).

One of the final proposals includes exterior and interior renovations to the existing police headquarters in the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center at 217 S. High St.

Other existing buildings still up for consideration include:

• The former Akron Beacon Journal building at 44 E. Exchange St., submitted through an RFP.
• 80 W. Bowery St., owned by the Akron Children's Hospital, submitted through an RFP.
• The former Morley Health Center at 177 S. Broadway St., identified by the city.

The city is considering these sites for new construction:

• A site on Bellows Street, submitted through an RFP.
• The former St. Thomas Hospital site at 444 N. Main St., owned by Summa Health and submitted through an RFP. Summa did not submit the RFP, Summa spokesman Mike Bernstein said.
• A site south of Thornton Street between Main Broadway streets, submitted through an RFP.
• 353 Grant St., owned and recommended by UA.
• 145 S. College St., owned and recommended by UA.
• 178 Forge St., owned and recommended by UA.

The city budgeted $2.2 million from its Akron Safety Center fund for the consulting contract as well as some initial renovation or design costs, depending on the site selected, Marsh said. The actual construction costs would be included in the 2025 capital budget, she added.

The building at 80 W. Bowery St. is vacant, Akron Children's spokeswoman Laurie Schueler said.

St. Thomas last serviced patients in early February 2023, Bernstein said, adding that the building has since been decommissioned and its utilities disconnected.

As for the former Morley Health Center, the city of Akron last year considered transferring the building to Akron Public Schools . The school district was weighing moving the National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM High School there from its 123 S. Forge St. address.

Former Beacon Journal building renovation makes most financial, environmental sense, developer says

In December, the Ohio Department of Development announced $5.3 million in tax credits for a $54.1 million renovation of the former Beacon Journal building. Akron developer Tony Troppe applied for the tax credits to turn the building into a mixed-use development with apartment units, retail offerings, offices and restaurants.

However, Troppe said he and his team "shifted gears" by submitting an RFP for the Akron Police Department headquarters at the former Beacon Journal building.

Troppe said development plans that use historic tax credits like those he received from the state, originally for the mixed-use concept, can be amended.

One benefit of using tax credits lies in saving local taxpayers money, he said.

"So, we win on economic, but we win on an environmental and upcycling of a legacy building that has always proven to be a community hub and demonstrates that the pen is mightier than the sword," Troppe said.

C.L. Knight and Major T.J. Kirkpatrick purchased the Beacon in 1903, and his son John S. Knight served as publisher and editor. The paper's staff moved into the East Exchange Street building in 1938, right around the time John S. Knight purchased the Akron Times-Press.

"There's no better location than continuing to build upon the rich legacy that the Knights have left us as we create a solution for those who protect and serve every day," he said.

Troppe said the 44 E. Exchange St. building, which the Beacon moved out of in 2019 to begin operations at the AES Building, will require extensive renovations.

The developer said he believes the more-than-200,000-square-foot building serving as the new Akron police headquarters would allow "the community to come in and engage and interact with the police" and start "part of a great healing process."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Which 10 locations are in the running to become the Akron Police Department headquarters?