COLUMBUS – A major expansion to the Columbus Police Department is moving along ahead of schedule, according to Columbus Town Manager Tim Barth. 

Columbus Town Council met Thursday, Aug. 18 and heard from Barth on the construction which began on July 5.

Barth said the expansion is going extremely well with asbestos removal recently completed. He said the project remains ahead of schedule and contractors have been on site every day.

Barth also told council that the contractor donated approximately $2,000 worth of concrete to put into the walls after town officials declined a change order.

Columbus contracted with Dunlap Construction, who submitted a base bid of $285,778, which did not include a couple alternates, or add-on projects. The total contract is for $296,062. The town is looking at an approximate $320,000 budget for the expansion, including contingency and construction inspections. Columbus decided to take $120,000 out of its fund balance and is financing $200,000 through Entegra Bank.

Columbus Police Chief Chris Beddingfield said the project for a department expansion began the planning stages about five years ago.

“The town has never had a building designed to be the police department,” Beddingfield said. “We were in the basement of town hall until around 2008, when we moved into our current facility, which was designed and built as a residential structure. The move from town hall was an improvement but we were still limited because of the design of the building as a house, not a police department.”

The town has made improvements to the building, which Columbus formerly rented as a home. After the improvements, the police department was still limited, especially for equipment storage.

The current expansion will add storage space, office space and a training/meeting room.

The construction has been designed to make as little impact as possible on the police department’s day-to-day operations, according to Beddingfield.

Construction is scheduled to be completed Dec. 7.

Beddingfield said the department plans to have an open house for the community after construction is complete.