The Kerrville City Council selected the company to design and build the city’s $45 million public safety building. The pick was San Antonio-based Byrne Construction Services, a large firm with deep experience in public building development across Texas.
With Police Chief Chris McCall and Fire Chief Eric Maloney standing behind him, Kerrville City Engineer Kyle Burrow recommended the City Council select Byrne to do the job.
“I can kind of feel stuff on my back here,” Burrow joked as the two chiefs, who will ultimately oversee the building, stood behind him smiling. “I feel this is going to be a relatively quick process. December of (2024) is when we hope to have these (the chiefs) in this building, functioning.”
The selection of Byrne came after a ranked process with several other builders.
“We are very excited to be at this point,” McCall said. “As a staff, we’ve probably pored thousands of hours into this selection process. I think we feel extremely comfortable with this recommendation.”
Councilmember Brenda Hughes asked about a planned memorial area for fallen police officers and firefighters. A citizen’s group is fundraising to bring a Kerrville-specific memorial to the complex.
McCall said all the bidders knew the memorial requirement and made presentations that included a memorial.
The Council unanimously approved for City Manager E.A. Hoppe to finalize the contract with the firm. Voters approved the 60,000-square-foot building during last year’s municipal election. However, the size of the building is still under attack by some community members, including City Council candidate Barbara Dewell Ferguson, who called it something filled with wants rather than needs.
Still, the voters supported the expense to build a one-story complex that will house the police department, fire administration, emergency operations center and municipal court.
Some of Byrne Construction Services’ projects include:
- Fort Worth’s Bob Bolen, Public Safety Complex, covers more than 570,000 square feet and provides a comprehensive training facility for law enforcement and fire.
- A 35,000-square-foot building for the Lower Colorado River Authority in Austin demonstrates the company’s multipurpose design.
- The Seguin public library.
- And the restoration of Dallas’ iconic “Old Red” Museum at Dealey Plaza.
