WESTWOOD, Ohio (Jeff Hirsh) -- Construction begins on a new police headquarters on Cincinnatis west side. After years of discussion, work officially begins today on a building that will allow district three police to move from their home of 105 years. The new facility on Ferguson Road in Westwood will be nearly twice the size of the current location on Warsaw Avenue, which is where Local 12's Jeff Hirsh joins us. If you visualize an early 20th century police station then you are visualizing the District 3 Police Station. But they will be moving district 3 to a brand new and very different facility 2.9 miles from the original.The new district 3 police station will cover 14 neighborhoods, 95,000 residents from Price Hill to Sailor Park. The site selection team checked 27 locations before choosing four finalists. From those finalists they chose a former car dealership right near Western Hills High School. Not only is this a police station but it is also designed as a community center. There will be meeting rooms for the community and a bike path. The building will be twice the size of the old one. The new building if you include the land and the planning costs 16 million dollars. It will open in mid-2015.The new police station will be highly energy efficient. By using solar panels, the building will generate as much energy as it consumes.
