The Broomfield Police Department plans to start building a new, $73.5 million police and court facility in May 2026 to deal with overcrowding in its current facilities.

The Broomfield City Council at its Tuesday meeting unanimously approved an amendment to the consulting agreement for the new police and courts building. The amendment is for $4,688,600 to pay for design services that will be used in construction documents. Anderson Mason Dale, a Denver-based architecture company, will be designing the building.

The current police department is 35,424 square feet. The new building will be about 81,000 square feet to accommodate growth for the next 25 years, according to a police department presentation at the Tuesday meeting.

The new building, which is planned for the southeast corner of Decombes Drive and Third Avenue, is expected to be paid for through about $7 million in cash from the city budget, with the remainder to be financed through a general obligation bond, according to city materials.

General obligation bonds are paid back through property taxes, and are used to fund government projects such as construction of government buildings. In Colorado, local governments can issue general obligation bonds with voter approval. Director of Finance Graham Clark said in the meeting that repayment of the bond is expected to be about $5 million per year. Further information about the bonds and the vote to approve them will happen closer to the bonds’ issuance.

The City Council plans to amend its design contract by another $1.9 million in the future to pay for services such as bidding assistance and construction administration.