PRESS RELEASE
Northville Township broke ground on the 96,000-square-foot Essential Services Complex (ESC) Tuesday, May 14, a facility aimed at providing even more exceptional service to the community, with emphasis on public safety.
The new complex will include a second fire station to reduce response times to the northeast quadrant of the community, as well as a new police headquarters. It will have a new temporary holding facility, a garage to protect cruisers’ sensitive electronic equipment, an expanded dispatch center and multiple shared spaces for Police and Fire to eliminate redundancies, like a shared fitness room.
Additionally, the ESC will be home to a new headquarters for the Department of Public Works, which has outgrown its current facility, and to a Northville Parks & Recreation building, which will serve as a trailhead to Legacy Park, providing parkgoers with restrooms and running water.
“We are laying the foundation for a safer, stronger and more resilient Northville Township—one that will continue to thrive and flourish for years to come,” said Northville Township Manager Todd L. Mutchler.
Northville Township Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police Scott Hilden agrees. “The Essential Services Complex will make us more efficient, more effective and it will save lives,” he said.
The groundbreaking was at Seven Mile Road and Traditions Drive, west of Haggerty Road. Guests got a peek at the footprint of the building as some of the walls are already being built.
ESC occupies 4.3% of the 350-acre Legacy Park, or just 15 acres of it, leaving the remaining acreage for recreation. It once was a place of healing for many as the former Northville State Psychiatric Hospital, which closed in 2003. In 2022, Northville Township had 11 asbestos-clad buildings on site. After an active year to remove hazardous materials, they were demolished. Only one building remains and it will be repurposed for a yet-to-be-determined Northville Parks & Recreation building.
“We are taking steps today to transform this site to be a beacon for our residents, whether they are in need of service from our Police and Fire Departments, our Water & Sewer team or want to walk in the park,” Supervisor Mark J. Abbo said. “This is an exciting day for the future of Northville Township.”
Northville Township explored remodeling the current Public Safety Headquarters on Six Mile Road, which houses the Police Department and some of the Fire Department administration. It opened in 1978 as Township Hall, housing all departments, including the Police and Fire. To accommodate current-day needs, outside consultants advised that building a new headquarters was more cost-effective, with long-term benefits.
This advice and the knowledge that Northville Township needed a second fire station due to increasing traffic causing climbing response times, and a need to protect equipment assets used by the Department of Public Works Headquarters, led to the ESC building. The full-in cost is $44 million.
Northville Township used its enviable AAA bond rating to secure a low-interest rate for $15 million in bonds to partially finance the construction the ESC. Other funding sources include enterprise funds, general funds, public safety funds and grant funding.
Construction management firm Cunningham-Limp, Partners in Architecture and OHM Advisors are collaborating to build the ESC. Its completion is scheduled for spring 2025.
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank all of those involved in making the new Essential Services Complex a reality,” Supervisor Abbo said. “Our residents deserve this nod to their safety. We are taking a big step forward to continue to deliver exceptional public service for those who live, work and play in Northville Township.”
