Fresno County investing millions to build new sheriff substation

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno County is investing millions of dollars to build a new sheriff's substation.

Ground was broken Monday on the new facility that will sit on six and a half acres along Armstrong and Harvey and serve as the headquarters for all patrol operations in the area.

The facility will replace the current Area Two substation located at Shields and Clovis

Monday, Sheriff Margaret Mims was joined by local officials as they helped break ground on the project

"This building will be built with technology in mind, with the community in mind, it will have a community meeting room in it. It will house detectives, patrol deputies, office staff as well as training," said Sheriff Mims.

According to Sheriff Mims, the county has outgrown the existing Area Two substation and has been in a month to month lease agreement for the past 30 years.

The new facility will be owned by the county and provide easy access to Highway 180 to better serve eastern portions of Fresno County

"To the west is Chateau Fresno, to the south is American Avenue, to the north is the San Joaquin River and to the east is the Friant Kern Canal, so that's several thousand square miles of responsibility. Getting in and out of this place easily was important," said Sheriff Mims.

The site of the new substation is just a few miles from the current facility and comes with a price tag of about $17 million.

"When we first designed it, we took a look at how do we keep the integrity of how it looked so that it was attractive, but also how we could save money. We worked very closely with Public Health as well as our contractor in how we could do that."

The new sheriff substation is expected to be completed by the Summer of 2021.