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Town and County Officials Discuss Selling Nashville Police Department Building to House Prosecutor's Office
Summary
Council and county commissioners met Jan. 5 to discuss a proposal for the county to acquire the Nashville Police Department building and use it for the prosecutor's office; officials said building tests showed no asbestos or mold and that acquisition could save the county roughly $2 million compared with new construction, but no decision was made.
Council leaders and county commissioners met in a joint special session on Jan. 5 to discuss whether the county should acquire the Nashville Police Department building to house the prosecutor's office.
A county commissioner who presented the county's review said the owner's representative and the prosecutor had inspected the building and found it would "fit right into the need." The commissioner added that testing showed neither asbestos nor mold was present in the structure and framed acquisition as a taxpayer-saving alternative to new construction: "It's in at the end of the day, it's a savings to the taxpayers as far as not having to build the building." He later summarized a bond estimate for a replacement building as "around 2 to $2,200,000 for building a new building" sized at roughly 4,000 square feet.
Officials raised site and budget constraints if the town and county chose to build new instead. Commissioners and council members discussed limited parking at the courthouse site, the cost of adding vertical space (elevators and aesthetic mitigation) and complex underground utilities that make expansion difficult. County participants stressed competing capital demands, including recently inspected bridges that may require replacement in the next two to four years.
Participants agreed the meeting was for fact-finding and that no decision would be made immediately. Several officials proposed a joint follow-up session and directed staff to explore interlocal options, potential county-owned space (including solid waste or highway department facilities), and further due diligence to refine costs and logistics. The town council scheduled its next public session for Jan. 15.
The discussion left the proposed transaction unresolved: officials said acquisition could offset bond costs but emphasized further study of utilities, parking and competing county capital obligations would determine viability.
