Waco’s police headquarters is entering the holiday season with a gleaming new set of windows, after a $3.7 million replacement project nearly three years in the making.
The Waco Police Tower at 3115 Pine Ave. finally has new windows, 14 years after the city bought the 1970s building from the Hillcrest hospital system.
Contractors for the city completed the new double-pane, energy-efficient windows on the tower at 3115 Pine Ave. in November. The project was completed within its $3.7 million budget, according to Derrick Oltmann, the city’s facilities director.
The results of the police tower project more than fulfilled the city’s expectations in providing a renewed look of the façade of this important location, said Ryan Holt, assistant city manager.
“As one of the highest spots in McLennan County, the Waco Police Tower is visible to most of our residents and visitors alike and helps represent the city on the broader landscape,” Holt said in an email Tuesday. “In addition to the aesthetic benefits, we are pleased that the window upgrade provides a more environmentally sound location for our valued employees to conduct vital work for our community.”
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The Waco City Council earmarked $3.7 million for the window work in summer 2021. It awarded a contract for the project to St. Louis-based IWR North America in November 2021, with a timeline of completion by mid-2022.
Workers replace aged glass at the Waco Police Tower in this October 2022 photo.
City administrators said supply-chain disruptions in the pandemic era made it difficult to procure the glass and supportive curtain structure, which had to be custom fabricated to replace the 1970s-era single-pane windows. Rain in the spring also caused delays, city officials said.
Oltmann said in May that IWR North America revised its estimated completion to “before the end of the year,” to take into account the rain delays. Contractors did most of the work outside, exposed to the heat, cold and elements, to change the curtain wall and replace the windows.
The new windows will improve efficiency as well as aesthetics, city officials said.
The new double-pane tinted windows are projected to save the city $56,000 in annual energy costs, Oltmann said.
The city of Waco bought the former Hillcrest Medical Tower in 2009 from Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, now Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest, after the hospital relocated to Interstate 35.
A $63 million city bond package in 2007 funded the $3.26 million purchase of the tower and adjacent parking garage, along with $9.7 million for renovations. The initial renovations did not include replacing the windows or curtain wall.
New glass has been installed at the Waco police tower.
