Frisco officials resumed talks around a potential remodel of the town’s police department last week, picking up previously approved concept drawings for the space that were pushed to the side as a result of COVID-19-related budget cuts.

For some officials, an upgrade to the department is long overdue.

“This place is in serious need of some tender love and care,” Frisco Police Chief Tom Wickman said. “We have a big table, and people eat there. They clean their guns there. They drug test there. We need more space to carry out our tasks, and the new remodel will give us those various areas to do that.”

Early this year, consultants delivered conceptual drawings of the proposed remodel, which the town has decided to continue building off of as it moves toward the eventual construction on the project.

At the virtual Frisco Town Council meeting last week, officials decided to enter into a contract with TC3 Architects and O’Bryan Partnership Architects to complete the bulk of design work and associated bid documents for the project. The town returned $60,000 of the original $100,000 planned for the design work back into the 2020 budget, and officials hope to have completed drawings in hand in time for “bidding season” in February.

Much of the work already has been completed. Among other renovations, the current plans being used as the basis for the design include some minor demolition of walls, a new conference room, locker rooms and cosmetic upgrades to the ceiling, doors, carpet and more. The plans also call for expanded office space for sergeants and detectives, a new interview space, and a dedicated room for drug testing and weapons cleaning.

More importantly, the proposed project also includes several quality-of-life improvements to make the environment more suitable for officers to cook and rest, in particular individuals who live outside of the county and are forced to crash at the station during blizzards or other exigent circumstances. The plans include a new kitchen area along with bedrooms.

“We’re going to have a new kitchen with running water and a stove, which we don’t have currently,” Wickman said. “With the bunk rooms for both men and women, when they come up here, they can actually stay in our facility because it has a kitchen, sleeping arrangements and expansive locker rooms to shower. … We’ve had people that had to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags, so this will help us out a lot.”

In addition to providing more sufficient facilities for the police department, Wickman noted that the new conference room also would serve as a backup emergency operations center in the event the current center at the County Commons was unavailable for any reason.

The Town Council agreed the department was in need of an update and unanimously agreed to move forward with the design work.

“For the first time ever, I saw the police station on Thanksgiving, and I am in full support of a remodel,” council member Andy Held said.