RALEIGH -- The stalled project to build a new public safety center was brought back to life Tuesday with a proposal to look into putting the emergency communication center below ground or in a separate building.
At-large council member Mary-Ann Baldwin brought up the request at the City Council meeting Tuesday, hoping to find a compromise on what has become the most contentious issue for the council.
The Clarence E. Lightner Public Safety Center, a $205 million project to build a 17-story glass tower for the city's police and other emergency responders, has been stalled since early March when the eight-member council deadlocked over whether it should move forward.
By a 5-3 vote Tuesday, the council agreed to look into tweaking the design of the public safety center to address safety concerns and build the project without property tax or fee increases. The council hopes to have a new proposal in front of them in June.
The proposed Lightner Center has been in the works for years, but it catapulted to public notice once City Manager J. Russell Allen made public the proposed way to pay for it - by bundling it with $250 million in public works projects and raising property taxes by 8 percent.
If built, the tower would house police administrators and detectives, fire administration, the emergency communications center, traffic management staff and the city's information technology department. The Lightner Center, named for the Raleigh funeral director who served for one term and was the city's first and only black mayor, would contain 300,000 square feet if built as designed.
