Radford Police Department getting new home

By Rosa Duarte

Published: July 9, 2008

Radford police will soon be packing up and moving to a new location.

The current home for the police department was built in 1890, and was originally the old courthouse and jail.  Today, those jail cells serve as the locker room space for officers.

Chief Don Goodman says they, “Struggle sometime with our heating, with our air conditioning, with our electrical systems and with our security.”
That problem was highlighted in January of last year, when an inmate escaped police custody, and ran out of the building.

“Our lobby is set up in such a way that is not conducive for public safety.  We have a magistrate’s office that empties right into our lobby, and a new facility would help us rectify all of those situations,” Chief Goodman told us.

Recognizing those problems and after much discussion, the city recently purchased the Old Colony Box factory, just a block over.

Currently, an engineering firm is doing preliminary tests.  They include checking for asbestos.

Once plans are made, Mayor Tom Starnes says construction could begin as early as next fall.  It should last about a year.

It’s a change Goodman and others are looking forward to, giving the department an increased level of service to citizens, as well as being more open and more accessible.