Middleburg Heights’ commitment to the safety of residents and visitors is now being enforced in new, state-of-the-art ways. In October, the city celebrated the grand opening of a $6 million police station, which Police Chief Ed Tomba describes as a “fantastic space that will serve the city well into the future.”
The new station is also an admirable and forward-thinking example of adaptive reuse: Once the home of the Middleburg Heights Public Library, the building was destined for demolition. Tomba credits Middleburg Heights Mayor Matthew Castelli, who took the helm in 2019, with seeing its potential.
“The original plan called for the construction of a brand new $12 million police station,” Tomba says. “But during Mayor Castelli’s first term, we started having discussions about what the new headquarters should be. One of the things we agreed upon was that we definitely should not go to the public for funding. We walked through the former library building, had engineers check it out structurally and discovered it would be an ideal fit — which would save millions of dollars in building costs.”
The timing was perfect. Since the previous station was built in 1979, the police department had outgrown it both in personnel size and technology demands, and structural issues were appearing that would clearly grow worse over time. The new space is a far cry from the former station, which resembled a cinderblock bunker that lacked both natural light and 21st-century technology capabilities.
“Our new station brings a new dimension to the area along the Parkway and Bagley Road,” Tomba says. “It truly adds a wow factor that lets people know we’re here. We want our community and those needing law enforcement services to know that when they come here, they’re going to be treated with respect and receive the level of service they deserve from a professional law enforcement agency.”
More Light and More Space
The new building’s safety glass windows provide a welcoming ambiance and, unlike the previous station, there’s room for the female staff to have a spacious locker room with shower facilities. Hook-ups for USB ports are abundant, and open workspaces have been designed to promote collaboration and communication between officers and the public.
Safety First
As a 24-7 operation, the station also has a safe room located off the lobby that provides a haven for anyone needing to flee an uncomfortable, uneasy or unsafe situation. The room offers a direct line to communicate with the city’s dispatch center.
A Gathering Place
Chief Tomba looks forward to upcoming events at Memorial Hall — located adjacent to police headquarters on the City Hall campus — that will be the setting for Safety Town and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) graduations, swearing-in ceremonies and tributes to
those who’ve given their lives
in the line of duty.
