TELLER CO. GUIDE 2020 Teller County Sheriff’s department looks ahead to a place of their own – Colorado Springs Gazette

The renovation and expansion of the Teller County Sheriffs Office has been a long time coming. In fact, the plans for remodeling and expansion of the former fire station have been in the works for more than 23 years.

Ground was broken in November 2019 and the first footings were poured Jan. 28 for the expanded 20,668-square-foot building, which is expected to open before years end.

It will encompass the existing 5,200-foot Harris Building at 11400 U.S. Highway 24 in Divide, adding to its footprint and expanding upward.

Its at the very grassroots level right now, said Bob Campbell, vice chairman of the Teller County Board of County Commissioners, of the buildings construction progress as of mid-February. Weve moved a lot of dirt and shoveled some piles around, but thats about it. Were in pre-mode.

Come spring itll start looking like a real building, a real development.

Teller County Public Works Director Fred Clifford agreed there wont be visible progress on building construction until late spring.

Were mainly doing demolition of the old building and some foundation work right now, he said in early February.

The building budget is just under $5.8 million, with the total project cost estimated at between $6.8 million and $7.2 million when all is said and done. Its too soon to determine the final figure, as unexpected building costs tend to come up in the construction phase, according to Campbell.

The atypical thing about these particular renovations is how theyre funded. The county has been saving since 2007 for this expense, Campbell said.

Also, El Paso-Teller County 911 has pledged half a million dollars toward the project.

Were not taking loans and borrowing money for this. Weve got a long-term capital plan, Campbell said. We didnt want to waste taxpayer money by taking loans.

He added, Were pretty proud of the fact that we already have a kitty going for the next project, whatever that may be.

Thats what happens when you get a bunch of non-government guys planning for the government, he said.

Its unusual to save for it and not go into debt. Business folks are community folks. We all came from private industry, Campbell said of the current three-man board of commissioners. Weve planned and engineers and talked this through. Plus, its not like the county is building new buildings every day. Look at the 115-year-old Teller County Courthouse.

Building history

The one-story building near the main crossroads in Divide was constructed by the Divide-Florissant Fire District in 1985 and named for fire chief Richard J. Harris.

In 1996, a second floor, sheriffs substation and holding cell were added while a new Divide fire department building was built on County Road 51, Clifford said.

The full building was dedicated to the Teller County Sheriffs Department, but it didnt take long for it to outgrow the space.

With the staffing levels at about 70-80, the building was just outdated, Clifford said.

Whats most exciting about the building expansion, according to Campbell, is the room.

Well actually have real space instead of being a converted fire department, where everything is jerry-rigged, Campbell said. Nobody had their own desk before.

In the new building there will be offices, control rooms, space for volunteers, a communications and dispatch center, training rooms, locker rooms, a conference room and an office for the coroner, who previously had none, he said.

None of that really existed before, Campbell noted. Itll have all the things youd typically see in a sheriffs office. And even a little bit of a lobby. Itll be a legitimate office building with a few modern tweaks and a real parking lot, paved.

The efficiency of the building, he said, is going to be amazing.

We built it for the future. There are a few spots that arent programmed into the plans so theres room for grow.

H.W. Houston Construction of Pueblo is the contractor for the building, which was designed by Keystone Associates Inc. architects of Colorado Springs.

In the fall of 2019, the administration of the sheriffs office moved into the adjacent Teller County Detentions Facility on Weaverville Road, so there would be public access not far from the original office. Other county facilities made room for other personnel, Clifford said.

The weathers been favorable to get some of the site work done, so were moving along nicely at this point, Clifford said in February. It is moving along. I think in the spring youll start seeing the steel and the structure come together.

A sign

While the building site was being prepped, the construction crew uncovered an old Gary Shoemaker sign buried in the dirt, Campbell said.

As harbingers go, this one was pretty cosmic.

Its this big old sign, maybe three-foot by four-foot, he said. Shoemaker was a former Teller County sheriff, who, coincidentally, the new building is being named after.

At a mid-December 2019 Teller County Board of County Commissioners meeting, Sheriff Jason Mikesell unveiled plans to name the renovated sheriffs office after Shoemaker, who served for two decades as county sheriff. He died at the age of 77 on Aug. 1, 2019.

His son, David Shoemaker, said in his fathers obituary, There is only one thing that can be said about my dad, Gary Shoemaker: He was tough on the outside, but had a soft spot in his heart for his family and friends, and the citizens of Teller County, and employees of the Teller County Sheriffs Department, (whom) he so faithfully served for his entire adult life and law enforcement career.

A formal building dedication is planned when construction is completed.

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TELLER CO. GUIDE 2020 Teller County Sheriff's department looks ahead to a place of their own - Colorado Springs Gazette