Demolition crews recently started demolishing the old Fair Lanes Bowling Center building off Wilshire Boulevard to make way for Casselberry’s new public-safety complex that will house the city’s police station, along with a future Seminole County fire station nearby.
“We’re excited about this,” Police Chief Larry Krantz said. “It’s a better location for us, and it is more centralized to our community.”
Construction on the new police station, which will be located just south of State Road 436 and across from a branch office of the Seminole Tax Collector’s office, is scheduled to begin in about 10 months.
When completed in about a year, the new two-story, 25,000-square-foot police building will serve as headquarters for Casselberry’s 59 sworn officers and 11 civilian employees.
Estimated to cost $10 million to construct and equip, the new headquarters will replace Casselberry’s current station on U.S. Highway 17-92, just north of City Hall.
Built in 1996 and at about 22,000 square feet, the current police station is too cramped for the fast-growing city and expanding department, officials said. The building is also in sore need of repairs.
“It’s definitely outlived its purpose,” said Randy Newlon, Casselberry’s city manager about the old police station.
The new headquarters will feature more space for evidence storage, upgraded technology and better security systems. It also will include additional space for meetings and law enforcement training, Krantz said.
“The city needs something more updated for a police station,” Krantz said. “We’re now looking at a new building that will last the another 30-plus years.”
In the coming months, Casselberry officials will decide whether to tear down the old police station or rebuild it for another use, Newlon said.
Casselberry has transformed that area off U.S. 17-92 near City Hall and Lake Concord into a vibrant center that regularly hosts community events, festivals and musical performances. And city officials would like to see the old police station property likely turned into a commercial hub with shops and restaurants overlooking the lake.
In 2014, Casselberry bought the shuttered Fair Lanes Bowling Center building and parking lot adjacent to city-owned land on Wilshire Boulevard with the plan that it would serve as a future spot for a public-safety complex because it’s in a more central location within the city and primarily surrounded by residential neighborhoods.
Fair Lanes Bowling Center — also named the AMF Casselberry Lanes — served as a popular hangout in the 1980s and early 1990s for residents to knock down bowling pins, shoot pool or enjoy a meal.
Also, Seminole County plans to eventually close its Fire Station 25 on Red Bug Lake Road, just east of S.R. 436, and build a new firehouse in a wooded spot adjacent to the new Casselberry police station on Wilshire. That new fire station is estimated to cost about $6.5 million to build.
Seminole Fire Department serves the city of Casselberry, and county officials said Fire Station 25 — built in 1975 — is in poor shape. Seminole is currently in the process of hiring an architect for that project.
mcomas@orlandosentinel.com
