Omaha, Nebraska Voters Approve $155 Million Police and Fire Headquarters Bond

Omaha voters approved a $155 million bond on Tuesday to build a joint headquarters for the Omaha Police Department and the Omaha Fire Department. The measure drew 92,224 votes in favor, about 70 percent of the votes cast, according to results reported Wednesday. A second bond, for up to $30 million to redevelop Tranquility Park into an athletic complex, also passed, with about 75 percent support in results reported as of 10:45 p.m. on election night. Final certified totals were still pending an updated posting from the Douglas County Election Commission.

A new home at Crossroads

The headquarters will be a 275,000-square-foot building at the Crossroads redevelopment in Omaha. It will replace the Police Department central headquarters near South 15th and Howard Streets, a building the city says is more than 50 years old. Fire Department administrative functions, now spread across separate buildings, will move under the same roof. The city has said the building will house about 300 personnel and will work as an administrative campus. It will not serve as a police precinct or a fire station, and no police cruisers or fire trucks will deploy from the site.

When city leaders announced the Crossroads site in July, they put the expected cost of the headquarters at about $180 million, down from an earlier estimate of $200 million. The $155 million bond covers the largest share of that cost. City officials said the bond could go forward with no increase in the city property tax levy, because existing levy capacity is enough to repay the bonds. Omaha-based Leo A Daly designed the building. The city said in July that final design work would finish by late 2027, with construction starting in January 2028.

Fire Chief Kathy Bossman told residents during the July announcement that the current fire headquarters on Jackson Street, built in 1966, is so small that many of the department's key administrative functions sit in different buildings. Police Chief Todd Schmaderer and Mayor John Ewing joined her at that announcement at City Hall.

Tranquility Park moves ahead

The park bond is the final piece of funding for the Tranquility Park redevelopment in northwest Omaha. The full project carries a price tag of about $68 million, with most of that money already secured before Tuesday's vote. Plans call for up to 16 synthetic fields and added amenities at the complex, enough space to host regional tournaments. Supporters from the Building a Better Omaha Committee, a privately funded ballot committee that campaigned for both measures, argued the two projects would serve public safety and youth sports without raising the tax levy.

Both measures now move from the ballot to the city's capital planning process. The Election Commission totals remain unofficial until the county canvass is complete.