After years of working in cramped quarters, Chief Mike Healy is almost giddy over the new Justice Center.

"There's a lot of 'Wow' factor to this," he said. "It's a nice, safe work environment. It's well lit; people will enjoy coming to work. Lots of natural daylight."

He's noticed the spirit of the officers, grinning ear to ear as they visit the new facility.

With 11 new civilian volunteers signed up, Healy said the new building has already given him an edge.

"We've never been able to have a lot of citizen volunteers because we had literally no space," Healy said.

Enough space for volunteers is just one of many changes.

In addition to police, the municipal court and information and technology division of the city have moved into the new building.

Overall, Healy said, space has increased from about 8,000 to 30,000 square feet.

In contrast to city hall, everything in the new justice center is 100 percent ADA accessible, even the jail.

More space, better workflow

"This building was designed to be a police department," Healy said. "This is a state of the art facility. There's no neater, cooler police facility in the state right now."

Healy said designers, contractors and staff spent 18 months balancing function and budget, looking for the most efficient solutions.

One decision Healy helped make was on how to flush a toilet.

"I looked at five or six different toilet flushers," he said. "I never knew there were so many different ways to flush a toilet."

His first reaction was "whatever is cheapest," but he said the contractors pointed out sometimes cheaper is not better. For example, a different flushing system is used in the jail cells than in the public restroom.

Input from builders and contractors helped get "more building on budget," Healy said.

"We got a gorgeous building and a functional building," he said.

The department's workflow was taken into account.

Patrol officers relate constantly to detectives, so their stations are close together.

As a police department, the new facility has many rooms the old building did not:

• Four separate interview rooms, one located inside the perimeter of the jail, two for suspects and one soft room to use for witnesses and victims.

"When someone comes in to report a crime, it could be the worst day of their lives," Healy said. "I want this building to be warm, friendly and as inviting as it can be."

• An evidence processing area, with fume technology (a chamber that allows officers to see fingerprints and other evidence) and evidence lockers.

• An evidence drying area able to accommodate large objects, and with negative air pressure, meaning the room is always sucking air in and out.

• A marijuana and narcotics room, also with negative air pressure.

• An armory designed as an armory. "If something goes boom, it'd be a big problem, but not a life-safety problem," Healy said.

Safety features

The safety and security aspects of the new justice center sharply contrast the old building.

For starters, parking is provided through security access gates and includes covered parking for patrol vehicles.

"I've seen officers permanently disabled after slipping on ice," Healy said. "It makes a big difference having patrol cars covered from the elements."

Another large safety improvement is in the booking area. In the old building, suspects had access to crawl spaces, civilians and police officers. Now they have none.

The booking area used to consist of a hallway. Now this space is designed for the function and allows officers to more safely perform their job.

The site is heavily video-monitored, indoors and outdoors.

The entire building is safer, Healy said.

"This building is designed for what we do, the realities we face trying to do the job," he said.

Municipal court

Judge Gerald Waite hears infractions, violations and misdemeanors within the city; no felonies.

The courtroom itself is similar to the old one, he said, but the new one is more convenient to people, with better access and parking.

This one is accessible for people with disabilities.

Of the old courtroom, he said, "We could not have made that facility ADA accessible to everyone."

That meant if a witness or defendant could not make the trip up the staircase to the courtroom, the judge had to find a place to meet him or her elsewhere.

Waite said he hopes the easier access makes people come back to court when they're supposed to, which would lower arrests made for failure to appear.

Jail

The new jail features six cells, with a total of 12 beds.

"We will lock up local offenders," Healy said. "We will lock up misdemeanor crimes. We have a place to put them now."

Inmates will see sunlight through skylights in dayrooms and indirectly in cells.

They will be served a 2,800 calorie diet, with Sunday being the most expensive day on the menu at $5.18 for the day's meals.

The jail connects to both the courtroom and the outside, for easy transitions between hearings or releasing of prisoners.

EOC included

The building was built to be an Emergency Operation Center.

"In the event of a disaster, this is where government will function," Healy said. "We had to balance between preparing for the worst-case scenarios and cost."

Because it's a 24-hour critical structure, and has a different set of codes to meet, it is able to withstand more hazards than an average building.

The center includes a briefing room, complete with data and electrical outlets for each person working there. Televisions will provide live news feeds.

A communications tower will help keep Lebanon in touch with the outside world.

In the case the tower fails, a HAM radio station is built in.

A 500-kilowatt generator can run the facility at full tilt, Healy said.

"We're pretty capable of operating in any kind of circumstances," he said.