BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — The former Woman's Hospital is officially on its way to becoming a new public safety complex for Baton Rouge Police and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.
The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/12YUrSl ) the Metro Council voted Wednesday to approve paying $11 million for the hospital.
"It's in mid-city, in that strategic location," said Metro Councilman Ryan Heck, whose district includes the campus. "You couldn't have chosen a better location."
The former hospital was appraised for $19 million, but is being sold for $10 million, city-parish officials said.
The extra $1 million covers the cost of some renovation work, and the cost of hiring engineers and consultants to survey the property before it was purchased.
The city-parish is financing the campus with a 15-year loan from J.P. Morgan, with a 2 percent interest rate. The city-parish will close on the deal by June 8.
A review of the property has identified $3.2 million worth of "short term" improvements and renovations that will need to be done before police can move in.
Finance Director Marsha Hanlon said renovation funds will be pieced together from budgets of the Department of Public Works and Police Department.
Officials said they hope the move-in will begin before the end of the year. City police are currently headquartered on Mayflower Street in what was a former school built in the 1930s.
William Daniel, Mayor-President Kip Holden's chief administrative officer, said the sheriff's office will relocate to the new campus at some point after the police department has been moved in.
Unlike the police department's offices, which are closer to move-in ready, the space planned for the sheriff's offices will have to be renovated to suit their needs.
Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
