SALT LAKE CITY - The public safety building in downtown Salt Lake City has been in the works for the years, and they let FOX 13 take a sneak peek of what it'll look like.
Three years ago, Salt Lake City voters approved a new $125 million general bond for a new public safety building at 400 South and 300 East in Salt Lake City.
The new building will replace one they've been in since 1988. It has suffered multiple fires, floods and other damages. Police officers will no longer have 10 people in a room built for four and suspects will no longer be near victims.
"We have a separate elevator. Police will bring in the accused and when they are escorted directly into interview rooms, so they won't have any interaction with the victims," said Chad Jones, project manager with MOCA systems.
The new building will include a state of the art emergency operations center. It will also get a Gold LEED rating; it sits on a 3-foot-thick foundation that will move in case of an earthquake.
"We've designed it as an emergency operations. For the center, this has to be completely operational; not just survive an earthquake but to be completely operational where employees can come in and sit down as if nothing happened," Jones said. "Seismic dampers act like shock absorbers that will allow the building to shift and shake it's now a static building but it will be moving."
The roof will have solar panels and other mechanical systems that ensure the building will generate as much energy as it uses.
There will be an open house for the new building, but it won't happen until late summer or early fall of next year.
