COEUR d’ALENE — The Coeur d’Alene Police Department got the green light to hire contractor CORE West for pre-construction services for a planned $4.5 million expansion of its headquarters.

CORE West is a national firm that specializes in municipal buildings and public safety buildings. The firm is also building the $44 million Veterans Home in Post Falls.

The Coeur d’Alene City Council approved $40,000 for CORE West’s services at a Tuesday night meeting, though the final total will be determined after the city chooses a design firm partner.

Pre-construction services help analyze, plan, design and establish needs for the construction process.

The money will come out of the $4.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds allotted to the expansion project.

Capt. Dave Hagar said the department’s expansion is sorely needed.

“We’ve grown like the rest of the city has grown,” he said. “We’re out of space.”

Hagar said the agency, which is authorized to have 97 sworn officers and approximately 17 civilian positions, only has six open positions. The expansion would increase the available workspace for police personnel.

As it stands, Hagar said, the maximum occupancy of the locker room at the police station is exceeded on a daily basis. Offices are filled by more than twice as many people as they were designed for.

The agency also wants to increase the size of its training room, which doubles as an emergency operations center.

“We don’t have the space we need to be efficient,” he said.

Hagar said the agency moved to hire a contractor before a design consultant so the two can work together to plan the expansion.

“The goal is to get the best value for the citizens for what we’re trying to accomplish and keep it really utilitarian,” Hagar said.

The chances of breaking ground on the expansion before spring are slim, Hagar said. But that’s part of the plan.

“We want to take our time and figure it out,” he said.