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SCARSDALE, N.Y. There's a bit of the familiar to go with that new-office smell at 50 Tompkins Road as Scarsdale's police and firefighters go about their daily business. The agencies moved back into the building just in time for the Oct. 29 storm after more than two years of making do in temporary quarters.
The building, which was built in 1924 and last renovated in 1952, was supposed to be ready a year ago. And the project, originally bid at $13 million, came in around $15 million.
According to Detective Lt. Tom Altizio, there are still things to do to make the building 100 percent ready. "There's still some things to do, and when we're done we'll have an open house," he said Thursday after an impromptu tour. He said the planned emergency center on the second floor is currently doubling as the construction headquarters. "When it's done there will be communications equipment and a smart board on the wall," he said.
The first thing people see when entering the building is the communications center, which doubles as a reception desk, protected by thick bullet-proof glass. Prisoner intake, holding cells and the officers' turnout room and squad room are to the left, behind secure doors. The fire department is to the right. The chief's office is upstairs, along with training rooms and the emergency center.
While most of the building got a facelift, one part did not: the holding cells. "You don't see cells like this" in newer buildings, Altizio said. The thick, gray, steel-bar cells still have key-locked doors. The tiny cells, not meant for long-term use, have stainless-steel toilets and sinks and a wooden bench.
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