ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The new, $3.5 million Essex County Sheriff's Office patrol headquarters will be "strategically placed" in the West Ward of Newark, officials say.

According to county officials, the department's patrol division has been operating from the Parks Administration Building at 115 Clifton Avenue in Newark since the building opened in 1916. "The division occupies part of the first floor and basement, and the cramped conditions are not conducive to efficient operations," Essex County officials stated.

With an eye towards launching the department into "21st century community policing," Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura lauded the decision as a win for the entire county and city of Newark. The Sheriff's Patrol Headquarters will be located on the corner of Market Street and Myrtle Avenue in Newark's West Ward, and will be across the street from the Essex County Donald M. Payne Vocational Technical School that currently is under construction.

According to county officials, the 8,000-square-foot building will be a fully functioning police station with holding cells, locker rooms for officers, a roll call area for officers to gather at the start of their shifts, expanded storage areas for records, evidence and equipment, conference room and offices. Essex County purchased one residential lot on Myrtle Avenue at market rate and acquired other vacant lots from the City of Newark to make the footprint of the new police facility. The home on Myrtle Avenue was demolished earlier in March, officials said.

Funding for the building is being provided through the Essex County Capital Budget. Comito Associates from Newark received a $177,500 contract to design the Sheriff's Patrol Headquarters. Aps Contracting from Paterson was awarded a publicly bid contract for $3,585,285 to construct the building.

It is scheduled to be completed in January 2018, officials said.