Northville Township is excited to cut the ribbon on a new era in public safety as it opens a state-of-the-art home for its Police and Fire departments. It's introducing the new Public Safety Headquarters to the media at 10 am Thursday, May 29 at the Essential Services Complex (ESC).

The ceremony comes almost a year to the date of the initial groundbreaking for the 96,000-square-foot ESC.

Northville Township now has a cutting-edge home for its Police Department. It’s highly visible at 40911 Seven Mile Road, acting as a deterrent to criminals. Previously, the Police Department was tucked behind a credit union and difficult for visitors to spot from Six Mile Road.

It boasts a temporary holding facility with a well-placed sally port to protect officers as well as prisoners, a garage to shield cruisers’ sensitive electronic equipment from Michigan’s weather, an expanded dispatch center to accommodate future population growth and multiple shared spaces for Police and Fire to eliminate redundancies, like a shared fitness room.

Fostering Dedication to Public Safety

Combined together, the Police and Fire departments are the new Public Safety Headquarters for Northville Township. With the garage, the Public Safety Headquarters is 65,403 square feet.

“This is a well thought-out, efficient Public Safety Headquarters that helps our first responders maximize their talents to keep the community safer and ultimately, save lives,” said Northville Township Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police Scott Hilden.

Northville Township’s Fire Station 2 began operating May 12, bringing life-saving care closer to residents in the northeast quadrant of the community. The busy Haggerty Road corridor, the densely populated area and congested traffic has long presented challenges for first responders.

Speedier Service

The new facility hosts half of the Fire Department staff and ensures that the firefighters/paramedics can reach 96.5% of Township residents in less than 6 minutes. This benchmark is a marked improvement over the 51.6% of residents who could be reached in 6 minutes from a single station.

Fire Station 2’s new technology allows firefighters to offer better service to the community and protect its assets. A high-speed dryer, for instance, removes water from the hoses they use and their turnout gear — the heavy fire coats and pants they sport to fires and other hazardous environments. When paired with an air pack, turnout gear weighs 65 pounds. The new dryer prevents rot and improves wear and tear, allowing them to use the community’s assets long term and be drier quicker, helping them prepare for the next distress call.

“This is an exciting era for the Northville Township Fire Department,” said Fire Chief Brent Siegel. “We thought-out this project for the last 15 years and how it would greatly benefit our residents. Now, with each run we do, we are showing our community exactly what we envisioned.”  

Calls for Help Climb 

Northville Township increased its Fire staff to match the increase of calls for service and in anticipation of opening Fire Station 2, ensuring both locations are fully staffed. In 2024, the Department responded to its highest incident volume in history with 3,765 total incidents, the majority of them medical calls. This is an increase of 3% from 2023 and an average of 10.3 incidents per day. With two stations, the Fire Department can more quickly reach everybody. Its Fire Station 1 remains active. It is off Six Mile Road, across from Northville High School. It debuted in 2004.

The Northville Township Fire Department provides the highest level of fire, rescue and emergency medical services 24 hours a day. Comprised of 39 team members, each person is an expert in Advanced Life Support (ALS), the top level of pre-hospital care. That includes performing cardiac monitoring, intubation and administering IV medications. Because of ALS, a person who experiences cardiac arrest — specifically ventricular fibrillation (VFIB) arrests — in Northville Township has a survival rate that is almost three times greater than the national average.

“These impressive outcomes show Northville Township’s commitment to providing the best possible care while keeping our residents safe,” said Township Supervisor Mark J. Abbo. “We have heard feedback from so many of our residents who appreciate this emphasis and that was top of mind when planning Fire Station 2 and the new Public Safety Headquarters.”

Collaborative Environment

With both Fire and the Police Department located at the Public Safety Headquarters, the facility creates a space to share resources, including a Records Department, fitness room and a conference/training room.

“This was to contain costs, while creating an environment rich in collaboration,” said Township Manager Glenn Caldwell. “It’s part of our culture here.”

In 2026, the conference/training room will be available for the public’s use when not booked by the first responders. It seats more than 100 people and can be divided into two separate rooms, both of which have kitchenettes. The Police Department has already hosted multiple training sessions drawing in attendees from around the state with positive reviews.

“The Essential Services Complex is a community structure, so we’ve created a space where our residents can connect with each other,” Supervisor Abbo said. “We are excited to see the collaboration that comes from it.”

Besides the Public Safety Headquarters, ESC’s two remaining buildings under construction still to come this summer are:

• A new Department of Public Works Headquarters with nine bays to house the Water & Sewer team and equipment
• A Northville Parks & Recreation Trailhead Building for Legacy Park complete with restrooms

History of the Project

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.

Northville Township explored remodeling the former Public Safety Headquarters on Six Mile Road, which housed 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. The site is currently up for sale.

This advice spurred the construction of ESC, as did higher response times from traffic congestion. Another need was protecting equipment assets used by the Department of Public Works Headquarters. The full-in cost of ESC for all four buildings is $44.5 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.

“I am proud that no new taxes were used to complete this project,” Supervisor Abbo said.

Construction management firm Cunningham-Limp, Partners in Architecture and OHM Advisors worked together to build the ESC.

“From the very beginning, our goal was to deliver a facility that not only meets the community’s needs but also upholds the high standards of quality and safety that Northville Township deserves, said Cunningham-Limp’s President Samuel J. Ashley, Jr., LEED AP. “Seeing it come to fruition is incredibly rewarding. We couldn’t be prouder to stand alongside everyone who made this project possible.”

Supervisor Abbo concurs.

“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank all of those involved in creating this resource for the community,” he said. “Our residents deserve this nod to their safety. It’s a big step forward, one that gives us the privilege to continue delivering exceptional public service for those who live, work and play in Northville Township. What an exciting day for Northville Township.”