Wausau police ask for planning funds to modernize 30-year-old headquarters

Captain Ben Graham, a commander with the Wausau Police Department, asked the Capital Improvement Program committee on July 21 to fund a facility utilization study for the department's 30-year-old building so the city can plan phased modernization and maintenance. The department does not seek construction money this year; the request is for planning and professional estimates in 2026.

The department said its headquarters was first occupied in 1998 when the force had 76 full-time employees; today the department employs 94, a roughly 24% increase. "The building has served us well but it's starting to show its signs of age as well as its limitations because while our staffing has increased, the footprint of the PD has not," Captain Ben Graham said.

Graham and other presenters described failing systems and crowded spaces: an HVAC system that has failed and is being replaced; stained ceiling tiles; worn flooring and locker rooms at capacity. He told the committee the HVAC replacement is a "big ticket expense over a million dollars," and said the department is asking to begin a phased planning effort rather than request construction funds now.

A study to evaluate building use and options would be modest compared with construction costs; Graham said preliminary estimates for a utilization study range from $50,000 to $75,000 depending on scope. Facilities staff member Leo told the committee he thought $60,000 would be a reasonable figure to include for scoring the CIP request.

Council members pressed on priorities and timing. Alder Rasmussen said the committee needed at least a dollar figure for scoring and noted the department's papers did not list the PD facility item on the paper scoring sheets. Alder Gessman and others emphasized the city must coordinate the PD facility planning with other pending projects, notably the planned fleet maintenance facility and Firehouse No. 1, because timing and borrowing capacity affect whether large construction is feasible in the near term.

City staff said some maintenance funding was previously budgeted and that parts of the HVAC/chiller work are already underway. The committee agreed to include a planning estimate of $60,000 for a facility study for scoring purposes and to ask staff for additional documentation and photographs.

Why it matters: the police headquarters is a continuously used public building serving a larger staff than it was originally designed for; a study would create a roadmap to avoid repeated reactive repairs and to sequence major renovations against other capital needs.

The committee did not take a final funding action on the request at the July 21 meeting; members asked for supplemental information and a formal scoring submission for the CIP.