Kansas Highway Patrol seeks phased $51.7 million start to Salina campus reconfiguration

The Joint Committee on State Building Construction on Jan. 29 heard a presentation of the Salina campus needs assessment for the Kansas Highway Patrol, and the agency requested up to $51.7 million in state general funds to begin a phased reconfiguration of its Salina assets.

The assessment, produced by Clark and Anderson in partnership with Dewberry, concluded that seven of nine structures on the former Marymount College campus need major renovation or replacement, that the dispatch center is undersized and not hardened against severe weather, and that the Patrol’s long-term program needs could grow the current 88,000 square feet on four sites to roughly 375,000 square feet. ‘‘Even among those, we would say that the dispatch center is above all the highest priority,’’ said Merle Bridal, Executive Officer for the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Why it matters: The Marymount campus houses the Highway Patrol’s training academy, Troop C headquarters, a 24-hour dispatch operation and central supply. Those functions are spread across four Salina locations, which the agency says reduces efficiency and raises security and accessibility concerns. The agency’s recommended planning option would consolidate most functions on a new site while keeping the central evidence facility and the outdoor…