The city of Stonecrest plans to buy an old Sears facility in a popular part of town and turn it into a public safety building.
The City Council approved the $2.1 million purchase Thursday. It will acquire Sears’ former building at The Mall at Stonecrest and its old tire and battery center, totaling 157,000 square feet, the city said in a statement Friday.
Officials said it will become a new public safety center for Stonecrest; the city hopes to share the space with the DeKalb County Police Department, using it as a new police precinct. It could also house the city’s municipal court.
“Public safety has been our No. 1 priority and now we will have our own facility. Our plan is to combine our forces with DeKalb County so we can properly cover the Stonecrest area,” Mayor Jason Lary said in a statement.
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The county has not commented on or confirmed the plans to turn the location into a police precinct.
The purchase will be paid for using the city’s SPLOST funds, officials said. The City Council agreed to pay Sears $105,000 in earnest money while the city does an appraisal, inspections and testing on the property.
The location of the old Sears building — a massive structure connected to the mall — will be integral to the police department’s ability to fight crime in the area, city leaders said.
“The Sears building for me is an opportunity to bring public safety closer to the city of Stonecrest. One of the problems that many merchants face is theft,” said Stonecrest Councilman Jimmy Clanton, who represents the district where the mall is located. “This facility will help address not only public safety concerns but provide economic help for our city. We’re now doing something about some of the abandoned buildings.”
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