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Hoyt Conference Center will be new DPS home

The Eastern Michigan University Department of Public Safety will have a new home next summer. And, it's one that should be more visible to campus.

During its June 17 meeting, the Board of Regents approved $3.9 million for the renovation of 12,000 square feet of the existing Hoyt Conference Center to create new office space for DPS. The project will be funded through University funds. DPS is expected to move to the new facility in summer 2009.

HOME SURVEILLANCE: (above, from left) Bob
Heighes, assistant director of public safety, and Greg
O'Dell, EMU's executive director of public safety, pose
in front of the Hoyt Conference Center. The Board of
Regents recently approved $3.9 million for the
renovation of 12,000 square feet in the facility to
create new office space for the Department of Public
Safety. DPS is expected to move into the facility in
summer 2009.

"This is not, in any way, a luxury facility," stressed Greg O'Dell, EMU's executive director of public safety. "It's a basic operation. But, it's what we need at this time."

The Hoyt Conference Center, located on the northwestern edge of campus, will allow roughly 33 police officers and DPS administration, including dispatchers; five parking and safety employees; and two health and safety officials to be housed under one roof and create a sense of collaboration and synergy, O'Dell said.

Currently, officers and dispatch are crammed into the 5,720-square-foot parking structure, built in 1970, while DPS administrators are housed in various Bowen Field House offices. This has created a situation where administration and the front line are separated by "several hundred yards," O'Dell said.