FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio -- For the past two years, Police Chief Erich Upperman has wanted the city to move forward with renovating the 50-year-old Fairview Park Police Station. For various financial reasons, the project hasn't moved forward.

That could change soon, with Fairview Park planning a $200,000 Police Station upgrade, including the addition of a dedicated bathroom and locker room facilities for women.

"It's getting to be a real concern with our female officer and clerks," Upperman said. "It's also kind of an impediment. If we want to try to recruit or encourage more females to apply, right now, the women's locker room is a 6-foot-by-12-foot corridor with no windows and no bathroom attached.

"Currently, we have one female full-time police officer, who, if she gets, for example, sprayed with sleet and slush handling an accident on I-480, we have no facilities for her to clean up," he said.

The Police Department also has two female clerks, who double as matrons handling female prisoners, as well as two female auxiliary officers.

In addition to adding women's facilities, Upperman said the plan calls for renovating the existing men's locker room and the repurposing of an inactive shooting range, which hasn't been used in nearly two decades. Fairview Park police officers currently use area gun and rifle ranges for training.

The new space would become a specialized workspace involving evidence processing. There would also be room for storage.

Fairview Park Community Development Planner Monica Rossiter said the city is seeking a $50,000 Community Development Supplemental Grant (CDSG) for the project. Administered by Cuyahoga County's Department of Development, the funding is earmarked for a variety of community improvement projects.

For the past two years, Fairview Park was awarded the county grant, which helped pay for the construction of a playground and pavilion at Nelson Russ Park.

A requirement of the CDSG application is a public meeting, which is scheduled for Oct. 22 in the council chambers at City Hall.

"The purpose of the public meeting is to solicit input as to whether or not there are additional projects that the community wants to see," Rossiter said. "We want to hear everyone's voice and if there's a need that we haven't identified yet for this particular funding.

"So it's not just a grant requirement. It's something that we pride ourselves on bringing the public in and engaging the public through this process," she said.

In addition to the county grant, Upperman said the city is currently seeking additional funding sources for the Police Station project. If the project moves forward, the chief hopes construction could begin late next year or in early 2020.

Rossiter anticipates a CDSG decision regarding funding to be announced later this year or in early 2019.

"I'm pretty confident that our project is going to be competitive," Rossiter said. "I think we will really be able to demonstrate the need for these facilities."