Personnel adjust as Jackson's fire, police station is repaired

The Jackson Police Department is still working out of a temporary office, two months after the station was one of the first buildings hit by a tornado that ripped through the town on May 6.

Just like Dorothy, the department has realized something. There's no place like the corner of West Jackson Boulevard and Hope Street.

"Mainly, the guys are getting restless," said Jackson police chief James Humphreys. "They want to get back to their home and get organized again. It's like going on vacation; you just want to get back home."

The police and fire departments have both been forced out of the station. The fire department moved next door to the recently remodeled administration building.

The training room was converted into a bunk room.

"The only thing we've had to do is alter our training," said fire chief Brad Golden. "We can't do any classroom work. We're doing a lot of stuff at our training site and some in the back parking lot. Everybody is looking forward to getting back in there and getting back to normal."

The police department ended up in an abandoned office that the sheriff's department once operated in.

No definite date has been given as to when the departments may be able to occupy the building, but Dick Wood with Penzel Construction said it could be as early as the third week of July.

On Thursday, workers completed capping the roof. Wood said Penzel is having trouble getting the windows in, but "everything else is going great. The carpet is going down Monday."

Humphreys said he appreciates the sheriff department volunteering the building. At the same time, he said, organization is nearly impossible while working out of boxes.

"Everything is running as smoothly as expected," he said. "The work is getting done; it's just a bit disorganized."

Humphreys is excited about a few changes that are being made to the damaged building to make better use of space.

"We were able to make a couple additions onto some rooms, which were some plans I had anyway," Humphreys said. "Now is a good time to address that while everything is a mess."

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635