In August, we said it was up to Provo to show voters why the Provo Police, Fire & City Facilities bond is worth the $69 million price tag. Since that time, the city has held several meetings and discussions with residents to share as much information about the proposed project as possible.

On Tuesday, residents were given the chance to speak out in favor or against the bond in a public hearing — of which there was little attendance. The lack of interest in such a significant and costly project is a bit disheartening.

The bond is for the “purpose of financing the costs of acquiring, constructing, and equipping in the downtown area a new police and fire headquarters, emergency dispatch center, and city hall acquiring, constructing and equipping a new fire station to replace the fire station on Canyon Road, and providing for related improvements in Provo City,” according to the public hearing information.

The Daily Herald’s editorial board toured the Provo Police Department, as well as other areas of City Hall to get a more complete picture of the building’s current restrictions and issues. While our staff has reported on the bond and City Hall’s unsafe problems, seeing it in person imparted a new sense of urgency we, in all sincerity, did not previously feel or understand.

The most urgent needs seem to spring from cracks that are moving up the walls of the multiple-story building creating unsafe conditions should seismic activity occur.

The Police Department building is wholly unsafe, inefficient and less effective with the current building accommodations that they are so patiently enduring. Some Police Department employees literally have “offices” in Harry Potter-sized closets. There is not enough space for victims to meet with victims’ advocates, unless other employees completely vacate the room they are working in.

The storage of evidence is precarious, as it recently averted a sticky problem with a sewer line — surely Provo doesn’t want to follow in Pleasant Grove’s footsteps. It is projected that they will run out of storage space for evidence within the next few years — this is after a shooting range was already converted into a secondary evidence storage room. Another interesting and sad thing we learned was the significant lack of female restrooms and facilities, as working women were not considered when the building was constructed; many women now serve as dispatchers, police officers, victims’ advocates and other office staff. Without diving into too many details, there are multiple areas in the Police Department where the building is insecure simply due to the layout and structure, opening the door for problems with suspects and potential threats.

After seeing the facilities and structure in person, it became clear to us that the current building is not capable of providing a secure and safe place for those interacting with the Provo Police Department, or the city employees that work there. Failing to plan for the present needs and future growth will undoubtedly hamper our first responders’ efforts as they work to keep us safe.

We’re confident the best path forward is to rebuild city hall and the public safety building downtown, most likely on the same block as the current facilities. Other options the city considered were rightly rejected — renovating an old department store raised considerable safety problems, and an option to build a new public safety building and renovate the existing city hall only kicks the can down the road for a few years.

For these reasons, the Daily Herald is officially in favor of passing this bond on the Nov. 6 ballot and urge Provo voters to seriously consider the needs — not wants — of those who provide crucial public safety efforts to us all and what it will cost us if we do not pass the bond.