TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – A working group of Poughkeepsie Town residents appointed by Town Supervisor Jay Baisley has completed its investigation into potential sites for a new town police and court facility and is recommending four locations.
The current facilities are located on a former landfill.
The working group was formed following the general dismissal of a proposal to purchase the Poughkeepsie Day School site at an estimated cost of $90 million as being too costly.
A consensus by the ad hoc committee was that a new facility should be located along Route 9 roughly between IBM Road and Beechwood Avenue.
“A site in this area would be on the town’s major transportation artery, make it easy to reach by automobile or by public transportation,” the working group’s final report stated. “This location is also within walking distance from major retail and commercial centers, but away from residential areas.”
The four locations include the former Dutchess Golf and Country Club, which most recently was used by a medical software and equipment company; the IBM 708 building that was used until recently for offices and has just come onto the real estate market, the former IBM Education Building that is now owned by a private partnership; and the “IBM Meadow,” a parcel of vacant land large enough for the construction of new police and court facilities.
The working group asked the town board to “use our recommendations as a first step in a decision process that, by involving both public discussion and the appropriate professionals, will produce new police and court facilities that will serve the town long and well.”
