The City of Gulfport was heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina and selected Broaddus & Associates as their Program Manager to assist in managing their multi-funded hurricane recovery program. One of the most significant projects was the ground-up rebuilding of its combined police headquarters and municipal courts building. The 78,960 SF, 3-story Robert J. Curry Public Safety Center covers an entire city block and is home to the Police Community Services, Municipal Courts and Police Administration. The building houses up to 150 police officers and administrative staff. The Police Department also includes temporary holding cell facilities, a processing center and two, state-of-the-art courtrooms.  

The complex is built to FEMA-361 design and construction guidance for community shelters and features a structural steel frame with architectural pre-cast exterior walls and a large missile impact window system. It can be used as a first responder shelter to house more than 275 personnel for pre– and post-disaster functions and is self-supporting in the event of power failure. 

Broaddus & Associates led the value engineering effort that saved the City of Gulfport more than $500K. The savings were placed into the furniture, fixtures, and equipment budget, enabling the City to have a project finished with updated equipment. Our firm also facilitated the complex application process for multiple funding sources, including FEMA, MEMA, grants and insurance proceeds. Our advocacy on Gulfport’s behalf maximized the available recovery funds for this project to reduce the burden on local taxpayers.

The firm provided leadership in bringing the team of designers and contractors to the common goal of on-time completion within the budget, which was accomplished in just 17 months. This project was critical to restoring this community, particularly the downtown area which was so severely damaged by the storm.