LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- New Albany is one step closer to getting a new police headquarters.

The City Council approved the nearly $13 million project in a 6-2 vote during a meeting Thursday evening.

The new building will be across the street from the current headquarters at Scribner Drive and West Spring Street downtown.

New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan said the new building will not require new taxes or a raise in taxes. 

"This new, stand-alone police station will save tax dollars from being thrown away on rent, will increase our ability to attract and retain new police officers, will improve our training and education capabilities, and will make New Albany even safer," Gahan said in a news release on Thursday.

The city has rented space from Floyd County in the Criminal Justice Center on Hauss Square for three decades to house the police department.

The new headquarters for the department will be the first standalone station in the city's history. The hope is to start construction sometime this year. A councilmember told WDRB News construction should start in April and be complete in "13 months."

When presenting plans for the new headquarters to the city's councilmembers in December, New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey called it a better investment for residents because the department rents its current space for about $122,000 a year. He added that it would also improve the department's operations by bringing everything under one roof.

Bailey has said that the current location is "too small to properly serve the needs of a modern police force," and that a new headquarters will allow the department to "better train our officers, provide new services for the community, and increase our mental health and crisis response teams, among other benefits."

In June 2022, the city said a new police station was in the works, along with plans for a new fire station which is already under construction on Charlestown Road. 

Last year, the city found out that Floyd County wanted to renovate the Frank C. Denzinger Criminal Justice Center on Hauss Square, which is owned by the county, and repurpose the space the police department has operated in for nearly 30 years.

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