Sedgwick County, Wichita will take 30 days to consider options for law enforcement training center

Sedgwick County and Wichita will take 30 days to explore options for a joint law enforcement training center, including using the Heartland Preparedness Center at I-135 and K-96 temporarily.

Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli of the Kansas National Guard offered to allow county and city law enforcement officers to use their training facility on a temporary basis.

The county and city initially planned to build a training center at Heartland, but the cost of doing so sent both entities back to the drawing board.

City and county leaders earlier this year toured buildings along 21st Street once used as workforce training centers by Cessna as a possibility to replace an aging school where law enforcement officers have been training.

But those buildings would offer only a short-term solution because they don't have enough space, leaders said Tuesday.

City and county law enforcement currently train in a former school built in 1958 at 37th North and Meridian. The roof leaks, the heating and cooling system is obsolete, and in the winter, snow blows inside through skylights, windows and doors.

The city and county also will further explore Southeast High School as a possible training site.

This story was originally published September 23, 2014 at 12:45 PM with the headline "Sedgwick County, Wichita will take 30 days to consider options for law enforcement training center."