FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    (County) - Bob Reist, Lee County Facilities Management, 479-8510
                (Sheriff’s Office) - Capt. Gene Sims, North District Commander, 656-7980

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 24, 2001) – The Board of Lee County Commissioners and Lee County Sheriff’s Office will hold a ribbon cutting Monday (Aug. 27) for the new North District Sheriff’s Substation.

The ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at the substation, 121 Pondella Road in North Fort Myers. The Sheriff’s Office also will host a Town Hall Meeting with Sheriff Rod Shoap in the community meeting room of the substation from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday.

The 5,600-square-foot facility – located in a former First Union branch – replaces the 2,690-square-foot North Fort Myers substation on Hancock Bridge Parkway. The county purchased the facility for $380,000 and relocation and renovation costs were $281,000.

The Sheriff’s Office is moving toward a plan of having four larger district stations located in the North, South, East and West sections of the county instead of many smaller substations. Deputies assigned to the districts work out of the stations, which also serve as links to the community for taking crime reports from residents and hosting citizen meetings.

The North District Substation will be home to a staff of 75, including 54 deputies, five civilians, six agents, seven sergeants, two lieutenants and one Captain. This new facility affords the North District a centralized location offering excellent access for the public from all areas within the district. The district boundaries have been restructured to include Pine Island, North Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Central Fort Myers, Dunbar, Tice, Morse Shores, McGregor Boulevard South to Colonial Boulevard, and Colonial Boulevard east to I-75 and north to the Lee County line.

North District is a full service facility able to address all needs of the community, including fingerprinting, patrol and investigative units, a certified crime prevention specialist and community policing officers. The facility includes private interview rooms for victims and suspects, increased work and storage space, and increased public accessibility. In addition, there is a community meeting room available for district clubs, associations and civic groups.