BUTLER TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Butler Township held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday for its new building.
"This is going to serve the community a lot better because it makes our job a lot easier," Butler Township Police Chief Brian Sabatini said.
Plans for the new building started five years ago. It is more than double the size of the township's old building. The township's police chief says the extra space is needed for all the growth that's happened in Butler Township.
"I've been a policeman here since the later part of 1993-1994 and the population was 3,100," Chief Sabatini said. "We're pushing 10,000 now in 2019. With a bigger population, more services, more requests for police services."
The new building's location in the CAN DO Corporate Center is also ideal for police.
"Years ago, where we were, was the central part of the community," Butler Township Supervisors Chairman Brian Kisenwether said. "Now, the community has grown east, so we've moved the building east. 90 percent of our calls and our activity is the (Route) 309 corridor, so this puts them right in that corridor."
The project cost about $5 million. After the ribbon cutting, people who live in Butler Township took a tour of the new facility.
"I'm involved with the voter election thing," Linda Wenner of Butler Township said. "I wanted to see where we'd be this time, and you're always concerned about where your money goes, and you know this building cost pretty much, so I wanted to see where our tax dollars was going towards."
The township plans to renovate its old building so a district judge can move into it.