LIGONIER, Pa. — A brand-new two-story building entirely dedicated to the Ligonier Valley Police Department is in the works.
New renderings given to Channel 11 show the plans for a new $5 million police headquarters that will be built off Route 30 in Ligonier.
The Richard King Mellon Foundation will provide all the money needed to build the state-of-the-art facility and the $617,000 needed to buy the property.
Police Chief Michael Matrunics is grateful for the funds.
“They’ve helped us out so much over the years, and this was something they envisioned wanting to be done for the community,” Ligonier Valley Police Chief Michael Matrunics said.
Matrunics said the upgrade was a long time coming.
When the borough and township police departments combined in 2019, they moved to the back of the township municipal building. The space was originally made to house around five officers, but the department now has around 12. They also share interrogation rooms, bathrooms, hallways and more with other township departments.
“We’ve had domestics happen right outside in the front parking lot that came here. It all went down in the front here, and right there are the windows of the secretaries of the water authority and the manager. That’s unsafe,” Matrunics said.
The new facility will ensure more security and safety for the staff of the township and the police department.
“Hopefully, we can take care of that by securing us one structure away from anyone else, and let us handle those issues,” Matrunics said.
The new lot also includes a dental office. The township is hoping rent from those businesses will go towards the yearly utility cost, which sits at around $31,000. Other than that, the project is free.
Matrunics says the goal for the project to be complete is early 2028.
The plan for the new building still has several rounds of approval before construction begins.
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