The Iowa City Police Department will soon have a much larger, newer home of its own, marking a historic move from its shared downtown space.
The Iowa City Council, in a 6-0 vote, with councilor Laura Bergus absent, approved the acquisition of the ICCSD’s Educational Service Center, 1725 N. Dodge St., for $3.2 million on Tuesday, May 5. The ICPD will officially leave the Iowa City City Hall into the new space within two years.
The move comes as city officials address the city hall’s limited space in an effort to better accommodate the police department’s operations.
A July 2024 “space needs analysis” of City Hall, conducted by OPN Architects, found that the ICPD would benefit from an independent facility. The analysis also found that the police department needs approximately 38,000 square feet for its operations, nearly 25,000 square feet more than it currently has access to.
Departing the 67-year-old Iowa City City Hall
Iowa City’s City Hall was first built in 1959 and expanded to 65,600 square feet in 1989, with minimal repairs and maintenance since. Iowa City Fire Station One takes up 10,591 square feet, while city offices account for 40,964 square feet. The police department’s 85 employees occupy only 13,945 square feet.
City Manager Geoff Fruin compared PD’s struggles to the nearby Marion Police Department, which is home to 42,000 square feet, despite the city’s population being half that of Iowa City and employing 48 employees.
Fruin said the fire department will likely also need to move out of city hall.
Iowa City, county abandon plans for joint law enforcement center
Establishing a standalone Iowa City police department is a bit of a pivot from recent discussions.
Iowa City and Johnson County recently explored merging local and county law enforcement into a single facility at a site off Riverside Drive near the Iowa City airport.
The council couldn’t reach a majority decision, while Johnson County Sheriff Brad Kunkel withdrew his support.
Iowa City Police Department expands space and operations
Iowa City Police Chief Dustin Liston said the move will significantly expand and improve operations.
“Currently, we house most of our evidence off-site, which is super inefficient,” Liston said. “We have to have evidence technicians driving stuff back and forth, so this has the potential to have all of our evidence housed on site as well.”
The N. Dodge Street facility is surrounded by Hickory Hill Park and residential communities and sits on 11 acres. The building was built in 1990 and occupied by the Iowa City Press-Citizen from 1991 to 2011. It was purchased and renovated by the ICCSD in 2011.
A partnership with the Iowa City Community School District
The Iowa City Community School District board of directors agreed to sell the former district office to the city for $3.2 million. District staff moved out in 2025, setting up shop at the Center for Innovation.
The City of Iowa City will lease the facility to the district for two years to continue using the warehouse space.
The department will likely remain at the city hall for another two years. Liston said it will take more than a year to finalize department designs and renovate the building.
Will police department’s new station impact response times?
In light of the recent Ped Mall shooting that injured five in April, the council asked how the PD’s move would affect response time.
Liston said it won’t have an impact.
“The police department doesn’t work like the fire department. We typically don’t respond from the station,” Liston said. “The officers are out and about, they’re assigned to specific districts, and they’re out in the field. So when a call comes out, like the call a week and a half ago, there wasn’t a response necessarily from here.”
Councilors applauded the move, saying it checks all the boxes and doesn’t require a new build.
“Looks like it’s a great building that has been well maintained, and it can be retrofitted to the needs,” Mayor Bruce Teague said. “It’s kind of nice to use an existing building rather than creating something new, so I think this would be a great opportunity.”
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @rishjessica_
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Police are on the move. Iowa City OKs building for new headquarters
Reporting by Jessica Rish, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Ames Tribune
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