BECKLEY, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – A project that has been needed for more than three decades and has taken three years to orchestrate came to fruition today with the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office headquarters.
Law enforcement personnel, county commissioners and various other members of the community gathered at the designated plot of land in the Pinecrest Industrial Park to celebrate the event.
Several individuals spoke of the new building’s importance, including Raleigh County Commission President Dave Tolliver, Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter and Steve Davis, owner’s representative for the new headquarters. U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va), as well as Congresswoman Carol Miller, could not attend Tuesday’s afternoon ceremony but each sent their congratulations on the county’s new project.
“This new building sends a strong message to the citizens of Raleigh County,” stated Sheriff Van Meter. “This is a special day for us, and it’s a long day coming.”
Sheriff Van Meter expressed that new headquarters for the department has been a focus of his since the beginning of his term.
“I came in a little over four years ago, and this was one of my top priorities… When I was a young trooper, I was stationed here in Beckley where the Sheriff’s Department is now, and we only have 15 troopers and it was crowded then. That was back in 1987, so you can imagine how it is now.”
He continued, stating that the $10 million, 23,000 square foot building, which will feature state-of-the-art equipment and technology, will be practical, functional and a significant resource for the county’s officers.
“Our deputies, they put their lives on the line each day, and the least we can do for them is give them the proper resources and facility to do their job, and that’s what we are doing…This will allow our deputies to do a better job and we owe it to them to give them the tools they need. We worked with commissioners and got it done.”
Chief Deputy Jim Canaday, who has worked for the department for more than 20 years, detailed that the new facility, due to its prime location, will allow quicker access to emergency calls, thereby shortening response times. The building’s amenities, such as a new recruitment facility and gymnasium, will also attract future deputies, which, he says, translates to better service for the community.
“To have a new facility like the one we are going to have, with the room we are going to have and the state-of-the-art parts of the new building that we are going to have, it’s a tremendous move for the Sheriff’s Office.”
Following the ceremony, Lootpress was also able to speak with Commissioner Greg Duckworth, who served with Sheriff Van Meter during his time as a law enforcement officer and also worked in the county’s current Sheriff’s Department.
“It was overcrowded and dilapidated,” Duckworth said of the building. “The building needed a lot of repairs, but they made it work. We are living in a time where when you are trying to serve the public it has to be functional. It’s an exciting time today. There’s so much that is going on to be positive about serving the public out of this building. It’s all positive; I don’t see any negative.”
As those who attended the ceremony made their way back to their vehicles, a crew had already started work on the building’s construction. Radford and Radford, Inc. will be working as the contractor on the single-level building, which is scheduled to be completed sometime next year.
Silling Architects out of Charleston was tasked with designing the building and provided the conceptual sketch.
