NEWARK -- Officials on Thursday announced plans to build a state-of-the-art headquarters for the Essex County Sheriff's patrol division in Newark's West Ward, a move they said would help revive the neighborhood and replace an aging station.

The 8,000-square-foot patrol complex is scheduled to be completed in January 2018 at Market Street and Myrtle Avenue, across from the planned Essex County Donald M. Payne Vocational Technical School, according to officials. The fully functioning police station will include holding cells, a roll call room, meeting areas and added storage space.

"Mayor [Ras] Baraka and the Newark City Council are excited, as we are, that our great city's West Ward will now have a centrally located precinct that will be fully staffed by our Patrol Division detective bureau and our county-wide traffic bureau, and fully equipped with all the most modern public safety and crime prevention tools," said Sheriff Armando Fontoura.

Members of the sheriff's patrol division are currently based at a county parks administration building on Clifton Avenue in the city's North Ward. That building, officials said, dates back to 1916 and officers work in cramped, deteriorating conditions.

"The county police have been operating from the parks administration building since it opened over 100 years ago," said Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., who unveiled the project at a groundbreaking Thursday. "With all the expanded duties and additional demands that have been placed on the police force through the decades, the patrol division has simply outgrown its outdated quarters."

In an interview, Fontoura said the old patrol building had reached a point where it was beyond fixing.

"Sometimes if it rains the leaks come in through the roof," the sheriff said. "To have a start-of-the-art building being built, at this time, is a morale boost for our [officers] who work so hard," Fontoura added.

Officials touted the new sheriff's station and county school as projects that would help revitalize the neighborhood by putting more officers in the area.

"They have been clamoring for help in that neighborhood," he said.

Newark city officials also expressed support for the project.

"Community policing is about bringing the police closer to the residents, and this new building for the sheriff's office will be a great thing for the neighborhood," city Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said.

Newark-based Comito Associates received a $177,500 contract to design the patrol headquarters, according to county officials. Aps Contracting, of Paterson, was awarded a public bid $3,585,285 to build the new station on vacant lots. Those costs would come from the county's capital budget.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc and on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.