By David Murchland - Marshfield Now!
MARSHFIELD, Wis. — City officials, law enforcement leaders and community members gathered Wednesday to celebrate the groundbreaking of Marshfield’s new police department facility, marking the beginning of a project officials say has been years in the making.
Denise Sonneman with the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce opened the ceremony, noting that discussions about the need for a new police facility stretch back several years. She said the existing department has become increasingly cramped as staffing and the needs of modern law enforcement have grown.
Mayor Nick Poeschel said the need for additional space at the police department is not new. Poeschel, who began working at the department in 1989, recalled that even then the building was considered too small for the department’s needs.
“We were already talking that it was too small,” Poeschel said. He said the new facility will give the department an opportunity to significantly expand its footprint and better serve the community.
State Senator Cory Tomczyk highlighted the state funding secured for the project, saying $800,000 in state dollars will help support the new facility. He described strong public safety infrastructure as an investment not only in Marshfield residents but also in those who come to the community to work, study, shop and visit.
State Representative John Spiros explained that the funding came through a competitive state infrastructure grant program. According to Spiros, 256 applications representing $2.1 billion in total project costs competed for available funding. He said the Marshfield project successfully secured funding after being evaluated on factors including public purpose, need, impact, viability, organizational capacity and local support.
Representing the Police and Fire Commission, Bill Pinker said the new facility will provide Marshfield’s sworn officers, credentialed staff and civilian employees with a workplace designed for 21st-century law enforcement.
Pinker said the project also continues a long history in Marshfield of repurposing existing buildings for new uses rather than simply abandoning community resources.
“The city has not destroyed resources. It has preserved them and made them better,” Pinker said, adding that the project will create a police headquarters designed “not for the past, but for the future.”
Police Chief Jody Geurink said the groundbreaking represents the culmination of efforts dating back to at least 2013.
The department’s current police station was constructed in 1982. While considered modern at the time, Geurink said more than four decades of changes in law enforcement have left the department facing challenges involving storage, safety, security and efficiency.
“Over more than 40 years, we have simply outgrown our current facility,” Geurink said.
The new facility is intended to address those existing problems while providing enough flexibility for the police department to grow and adapt in the decades ahead.
Geurink credited numerous city employees, elected officials, police department personnel, consultants and project partners with bringing the project to the construction stage. He said the department expects to transition from its current building into the new facility within approximately the next year.
For Geurink, who has spent more than 28 years working in the existing station, the eventual move will also be bittersweet.
He reflected on the memories created in the current building through decades of calls, difficult days, successful days and generations of employees who have served the community there.
While the existing station has served Marshfield for more than 40 years, Geurink said Wednesday’s groundbreaking represents the beginning of the department’s next chapter.
“The building we're breaking ground on today isn't just bricks, concrete, offices, and equipment,” Geurink said. “It represents an investment in the future of the Marshfield Police Department, and more importantly, an investment in the people we serve.”
The department expects employees to begin moving into the new facility in approximately a year. Geurink said he hopes the building will serve generations of Marshfield police employees and the community for decades to come.