Replacing the aging and undersized Kingfisher Police Department headquarters was a few years down on the capital improvement priority list, but when a nearly turn-key building became available at a reasonable price, city commissioners couldn’t pass it up.

The board of commissioners voted in a special meeting Wednesday to purchase the former Kingfisher County Department of Human Services building at 102 Coronado Ave. for $350,000, pending final inspections.

The negotiated contract is $25,000 below the original asking price, and closing is set for September.

The building housing the urrent police station was uilt in 1949 and at one time erved as the public library efore the current library uilding was constructed on Will Rogers Drive.

The building on the outh side of town became vailable when OKDHS ecided to close more than 0 of its county offices, inluding Kingfisher’s.

With multiple offices and ubicles and a large front obby with a secure recepion area, the building can erve the needs of the police epartment now and into he future, Commissioner Kyle Mecklenburg said at Wednesday’s meeting.

Mecklenburg was part of three-person committee hat also included City Manger Dave Slezickey and Mayor Roxanne Alexander, which negotiated the conract on behalf of the city.

“Looking at the layout, completely agree with Dave’s assessment that it will really work well with minimal changes,” Mecklenburg said. “It has all the stuff we really need and we can pretty it up a little bit and get the guys in there and let them have a great new home with room to grow.”

Police Chief David Catron, who was not at the meeting, told the Times and Free Press Thursday that, although he hated to see the city lose its DHS office, the opportunity to acquire the building now will help his department.

“We’ve completely outgrown the building we’re in now and everyone is looking forward to having the extra room,” he said.

In other business, commissioners voted to table a decision to appoint a commissioner to fill the remainder of Alexander’s term through next April.

A special meeting is planned later this week for that purpose. Candidates who submitted letters of interest include Richard Ray Reynolds, Adam Masters, Kaci Farrar and Austin Evans.