ASHLAND — Excitement among Ashland police officers is rising alongside the department’s new building in the heart of downtown.

Construction on the two-story, 17,000-square-foot building at the corner of 17th Street and Greenup Avenue began in March and is expected to wrap up sometime in late fall or early winter.

The building is behind schedule because of inclement spring weather but workers have been catching up, according to officials.

When the building is finally completed it will mark the first time in the department’s more than 150-year history the agency has had its own home.

“It can’t be quick enough. We need what that building is going to give to our police officers,” Ashland Police Chief Rob Ratliff said. “The sooner we can get there the better off we are going to be.”

“The walls are going up and you start wondering: Are they really going to have enough room? Now I’m starting to get anxious on when it will be done,” said Mayor and former APD Chief Tom Kelley. “I was there when they started planning it and I was there when they semi-made the designs, but I’m just going to sit back and be patient like everyone else.”

Ratliff said he shares the same anxiety about the building’s size but both he and Kelley say it is difficult to imagine now what the building will be like completed. Both said they are confident the building will be a vast improvement over the department’s current home, which is scattered throughout the five floors of the city building.

APD officials had hoped for a larger building but budget constraints forced the city to shrink the size down from 21,000 to 17,000 square feet. The building is being constructed, however, to allow for several additions to be made in the future if need be.

Ratliff said space is available at the back of the building and above the sally port.

Those early compromises made by the APD have reduced the amount of room for changes during the construction phase and, to date, there have been no major changes need, Ratliff said.

“What we have in there now is what we need,” he said. “We will all be in one place and there will be places where people can work and will have the latest technology that we need, things we haven’t had in the past.”

The department has already laid out where each individual staff member will be inside the building, Ratliff said. He said the department will be more involved in the construction of the building when it comes time to put in the furnishings and equipment.

Furnishings and equipment are not included in the $3.9 million budget for the structure. They will be paid for separately.

Tony Grubb, the city finance director, said $400,000 has been budgeted for new furniture, equipment and other items.

The city also decided to complete much of the outside concrete, asphalt and landscaping work itself using city workers in an effort to save money, Ratliff said. That work is expected to begin in August or September.

The new station will also be more open to the public, Ratliff said.

“We want to make it inviting for people to come use the facility,” he said. Training and meeting rooms will be available for public use.

Ratliff said he also hopes to put some of the department’s history on display there. Department members have been collecting photographs of former police chiefs — they’ve found just seven of 13 — along with newspaper clippings and other memorabilia. Some old police equipment and technology will also be dusted off and put on display, he said.

Those with information, clippings, photographs and other items are encouraged to call Ratliff at (606) 327-2077.

“I’ve always been told you have to know where you’ve been to know where you’re going,” Kelley said. “You have to remember the people that have been there before you have made your department what it is.”

Getting a new home for the APD, Ratliff said, was the biggest item on his “to do” list when he took over. The new station is the last of a series of changes he’s made since taking over in 2007.

Changes include: new designs on patrol cars, completion of the Kentucky Association of Chief’s of Police accreditation program, implementation of 12-hour patrol shifts and utilization of new technology, including a revamped APD Web site.

“The building will be the last thing on my list of things to do, long term and short term ... ,” Ratliff said. “When I get that I will go to the men and women and get their input. What do they want to see?”

CARRIE STAMBAUGH can be reached at cstambaugh@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.