RPD should be downtown; here’s a spot

(A column from Bill Cooke from 2016 makes a suggestion about the location of the police station. He was only one block off from where the police station finally ended up relocating.)

Rockdale Municipal District board members and personnel will tell you that many is the time that a business has expressed some interest in locating here, but has been turned off by the downtown’s appearance.

Now, our city’s downtown is not the disaster that a lot of small towns are, but it does have its spots of blight and every effort should be made to turn those spots into something positive if there is any way possible to do so.

And so, it seems to me, the City of Rockdale has just that opportunity in seeking out a suitable location for its very excellent police department. That department has been called a “Cadillac” department for a town this size by our county prosecutor.

And that tickles me personally because I’ve considered Police Chief Thomas Harris and wife Twila friends since they first moved here when Thomas became the first Milam County deputy sheriff to be stationed in South Milam County in 1977, a much-appreciated job assignment by the late and great Sheriff Leroy Broadus.

That Chief Harris, our chief for 16 years come August, and Lt. J.D. Newlin and staff run a first-class operation is beyond debate.

My humble opinion is that a prime location for the RPD would be the site of the old Gaither Motor Company, or Rockdale Ford complex, downtown. The building has parking on either end of its long block, parking on the street, and I’m pretty sure it comes with a sizable extra parking lot that’s adjacent to Gill’s Car Wash.

Don’t know the acreage but I assume it’s plenty adequate. It also addresses some legitimate issues raised at recent City Council sessions: 1. RPD should remain downtown; 2. It should be close to the east side where a lot of law-enforcement problems arise.

Now, there will be those who will say: “Aw, that crazy old Cooke just wants it there because it’s right across the street from the newspaper.”

Sorry, I just think that’s a great potential location. And I’m not saying the building is suitable. It could be remodeled, or ‘dozed and a new facility constructed.

Costly? Sure. But probably not any more-so than any proposals currently on the table.

So, Mayor John, City Manager Chris and council members, just another little piece of free advice. I know all you good folks doing those thankless jobs are getting plenty of it these days.

But keep RPD downtown.