CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Port Aransas Public Safety Building had its groundbreaking on Friday after the former facility was destroyed by Hurrican Harvey more than six years ago, in August of 2017.
The new building will cost $10.1 million, and its foundation elevation was increased by four feet to raise it out of flood paths.
3NEWS spoke with Port Aransas chief of police, Scott Burroughs, who said that the groundbreaking was delayed after a lot of back and forth with FEMA while discussing the city's needs.
"The building that we were occupying prior to the storm was built in 1997- and we had way outgrown that- and were already in the process of looking to expand. So even going back into the same footprint would not have been a good use of public funds because we would have.... been outgrown it before we even move in."
The new building will be named after former Port Aransas mayor Charles Bujan, who led the city through Hurricane Harvey.
Officials hope to be moved into the new facility by early spring of 2025.
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