BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS - A more secure, faster response and better protected Brownsville population is soon to come as city leaders unveiled a multi-million-dollar project equipped with some of the best technological advances.
City and business leaders, representatives of elected officials and law enforcement officers from a number of Rio Grande Valley cities met for a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for the construction on the north side of Brownsville along FM 511.
The nearly $80 million building will house the police and Fire/EMS department, the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and the Information Technology & Cybersecurity Department.
Mayor John Cowen, Jr., said the complex demonstrates how Brownsville is moving ahead.
“We are building a public safety facility worthy of their future,” he said. “Public safety is the foundation of everything. This is going to benefit every corner of the city.”
Felix Sauceda, the assistant city manager and police chief, described the future complex as a hybrid facility.
“We have not seen anything like this happening in 40 years,” he said. “This is going to increase our readiness, our response and our efficiency.”
Sauceda was referring to the last police station built for a couple of million dollars about four decades ago.
Now, the city is building a two-story and close to a 100,000 square-foot complex that will position the city in a better place to cope with its growing population.
The complex will be located in north Brownsville, an area that is experiencing a 30 percent growth compared to the rest of the city, City Manager Helen Ramirez has said.
“When was the last time you have heard of something like this,” she said, referring to the project during the groundbreaking. “We are going to have a state-of-the-art building and no space is going to be wasted in this new building.”
Ramirez said the seed for the complex was planted with a $1 million grant, followed by the issuing certificates of obligation to finance a project capped at $80 million.
Linda Macias, the District 2 commissioner, pointed out that there will be no increases in taxes as a result of the project.
“It’s being financed through a combination of FEMA grants, landfill fees and the city’s capital improvement plan,” she said.
The complex is going to be on a nearly 50-acre plot donated by the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corp.
GBIC owns more than 700 acres of land, an area that has been experiencing huge industrial growth through what is being dubbed as the Greater Brownsville Tech District.
The groundbreaking took place Wednesday afternoon under threatening skies and wind.
But scores of first responders present stood side by side outside the tents to witness the historic moment as a light rain fell over their heads and on the umbrellas passed around.
