Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther joked about his handwriting as he crouched and scrawled his signature on a metal beam on Thursday.
Ginther and others then stepped back and watched a construction team hoist the beam — which was also signed by police officers and members of the construction crew — to the top of what will one day be the grand entrance to the city's new Hilltop police substation.
The new station, which is currently projected to cost $14.39 million, will be seven times the size of the older Hilltop substation. Ginther projects a February opening for the long-awaited station, which has faced several delays. Construction crews broke ground on the project in September.
Construction on the building at 1860 Sullivant Avenue continues as the city sees much lower homicide rates than in previous years.
As of June 8, Columbus police have investigated 27 homicides in 2026, down from 35 homicides by the same date last year, and a bigger drop from 92 homicides at the same date in 2021.
"One of the reasons we have this 30-year low in homicides and violent crime in the city is because the police and community are working closer together than ever before," Ginther said. "And this substation, which is expected to open in February of next year, it's just gonna be another great way for the police and community to work together."
Deputy Chief of Police Smith Weir said the Hilltop neighborhood needs the new facility.
"Our detectives, our Zone 3, the West Side chain of command — it brings them closer to the community," Weir said.
Ginther called the old Hilltop police substation, which is still in use until the new building is completed, a "relic." He said it's one of the oldest substations in the city.
"It really reflected the old practices of policing. It was more of a police-only facility," Ginther said. "This is going be an incredible, much larger police substation. I think it will be one of the few subs that will have space for detectives to conduct interviews and do their work, as well as community space for neighborhood block watches and area commissions."
Ginther said other neighborhoods may one day get new police substations — as the city budget allows — but the city started by investing in neighborhoods that have historically been left behind.
"The envisioned Hilltop plan, that is to make the Hilltop safer, cleaner and stronger with city investment, so we certainly will look at this approach in other neighborhoods, but the Hilltop deserves this," Ginther said.
Weir said about 85 police personnel will staff the new substation when it opens.
Sgt. Joseph Albert said 38 officers and four sergeants work out of the current Hilltop station.
