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Community Emergency Response Center

In July, the Durango Fire Protection District entered a year-long memorandum of understanding with the City of Durango to explore the potential of rebuilding the city’s River City Hall property as the fire district’s downtown facility. The police department is also interested in a new facility and is taking part in discussions regarding what is, and what is not, feasible for the site.

For several years, the police department and the fire district have been operating out of facilities that no longer meet the functional need of Durango’s emergency services. Over the past six years the fire district identified more than 30 potential spaces in and around downtown, none of which proved suitable for moving forward. In 2015 the police department conducted a master facility plan, in which the contractor helping with the plan noted the department was dealing with a sever lack of space to properly perform its duties.

Bob Brammer

Chief of Police, City of Durango

Hal Doughty

Chief, Durango Fire Protection District

As the police chief for Durango, I’m often asked why we need a new building to house the city’s police department. Most people think as long as they see police on the street, responding to calls, everything is fine. Unfortunately, not all is fine. In order to provide these services an incredible amount of preparation is needed behind the scenes, outside of the public’s eye. An efficient police department is only as good as its facilities, and our facilities are in very poor shape. Ultimately, the quality of our buildings affects the performance of our officers on the street. I am incredibly proud of the work they do, and the care with which they do perform their duties, but they, as well as the community, need help.

In 1983, the Durango Fire Department (then a department of the City of Durango) moved to the River City Hall site as a temporary location to house the Fire Department. At that time, there was only one fire station for the Durango Fire Department, and the department handled fire and rescue services, but did not provide the ambulance service. On a normal day, 3 responders would have served the community from that station.