Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Noblesville plans to build a new police station at a former industrial site on the city’s south side.
Mayor Chris Jensen said Tuesday at his State of the City address that a new station for the Noblesville Police Department will be constructed at 1700 Division St., where Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC operated Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. until the factory closed 15 years ago.
“[It’s] an area of town that, if you’ve driven by it, you know it needs a shot in the arm,” Jensen said. “What better shot than to give the men and women of the Noblesville Police Department a brand new headquarters, a new innovative learning space and throw our weight behind them to make sure that they know that they are supported going forward.”
The Noblesville Police Department currently shares a 32-year-old building with the city’s fire department administration and Fire Station 71 that was constructed when the city had a population of about 20,000. Now, Noblesville has more than 75,000 residents and the police department has more than 100 officers.
Construction on the new police station, designed by Fishers-based RQAW Corp. and a top priority of the city’s 10-year Capital Improvement Plan, is expected to begin in the second half of 2025. The Noblesville Fraternal Order of Police endorsed the city’s plan for a new station.
In 2022, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations donated the Firestone factory site to the city following years of negotiations. Firestone operated the factory from 1936 to 2009.
In 2014, former Mayor John Ditslear announced plans for the Firestone Dog Park. Three years later, city leaders considered building a 40,000-square-foot headquarters for the Noblesville Police Department.
Bridgestone, which acquired Firestone in 1988, operated an air-spring manufacturing facility with 300 workers on the property until 2009, when it moved production to Mexico.
The site on the south side of Division Street near 18th Street has been vacant since the plant was demolished. Bridgestone worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address environmental issues, which included the removal of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and other pollutants.
The EPA said in 2017 that 7,700 barrels of hazardous waste will remain buried on 17 acres of the 70-acre property. Industrial and commercial uses will be allowed on the land that does not contain the barrels, but housing will not be permitted.
The company and city worked for years on a deal to donate the land. The police station will be constructed on top of an existing concrete slab because the slab is considered an impermeable barrier.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.