Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 23, 1993 TAG: 9307230085
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He patiently dialed the number on the old rotary telephone in his cramped office at the dilapidated Roanoke Police Academy on Kirk Avenue Southwest.
A voice-mail service answered and told him to punch a single digit to connect him with the person with whom he wished to speak.
Althoff sat helplessly, knowing he couldn't dial the number on his rotary phone.
Virginia Beach hung up.
That is just an example of a lack of investment by the city in an old building and the problems Althoff has encountered since he started running the academy two years ago. And it's not the worst problem.
As he prepares to move into its new digs in the revamped Jefferson High School, Althoff hopes the new facility will send a positive message to police recruits.
The new police academy location is part of a $5.5 million renovation project that will turn the old high school into a governmental/community events complex known as the Jefferson Center. The city chipped in $3.5 million. The rest will come from private donations.
The administrative offices of the city's fire and water departments also will move into the remodeled building.
The perceptual problems inherent in running a cluttered, out-of-date building are not something Althoff and other city officials want to contend with, particularly at a time when they are scrapping with other localities for quality police candidates.
The move will virtually double the space available in the academy, which now makes do in a building that formerly housed a radio station.
The new police academy will provide increased classroom, office and storage space and, yes, touch-tone phones.
Its sleek interior appearance, which includes newly painted walls, dropped ceilings and new furniture, is more in keeping with the image of a modern police department.
The scraggly Kirk Avenue building encouraged less positive responses.
"When an applicant came in and saw this, they didn't get the best image of the city of Roanoke," Althoff said.
The cramped office of the background investigator once was the control room for the old WDBJ radio station. If two investigators are working at once, they must find another room in which to interview candidates.
The walls of the investigator's office are lined with boxes of records that there's nowhere else to store. On one end, a floor-level window peers into the academy's main classroom, a converted studio with some of its glass windows painted over.
Paint is chipping away from the ceiling in both rooms. Tile is popping from the floor in the studio-turned-classroom. The ceiling leaks when there's ice on the roof.
If the academy is running two classes simultaneously, one must cram itself into a break room. There are no facilities for officers to participate in defensive-tactics training or physical-fitness drills.
That means recruits routinely have been transported to other parts of the city to use facilities made available for the academy's physical activities.
"Basically, we have to beg for places in the afternoon," Althoff said.
Althoff said that should change when the academy moves to Jefferson sometime in September. An old shop area at the school has been converted for the academy's use.
A physical training area with mats on the wall, chin-up bars and climbing ropes should provide enough space for the academy's defensive-tactics training. Showers will be provided.
In addition, the academy will have two full-size classrooms and six offices. It also will have an enlarged library, file room and storage area.
Althoff said he doesn't believe the current facility has hampered recruiting, although new cadets have been asked to spend their first day cleaning up the cluttered facility.
"We wanted to make it bearable," Althoff said.
Actually, last year's class had the highest academic ranking of any class in the academy's history.
"Most are just happy to become police officers," Althoff said. "They don't notice their surroundings that much."
by CNB