Panel Selects Company to Design Simi Valley Police Headquarters : Development: Council members will consider a committee’s recommendation Monday to hire architects who drew plans for East County Sheriff’s Station.

It is a challenge that could make many an architect tremble: With a shoestring budget, design a showcase police station in a city that prides itself on its status as one of the safest in the country.

But a panel of Simi Valley officials and community leaders says Leach Mounce Architects is ready to tackle the task.

After a rigorous, six-month search and review process that included tours of buildings designed by five finalist firms, the city search committee singled out Leach Mounce to build its $11-million police headquarters--at the corner of Tapo Canyon Road and Alamo Street in front of City Hall.

The City Council will consider the panel’s recommendation Monday.

“Now we get down to the real challenge,” said Mayor Greg Stratton. “They have to design a building that is functional as a police department, is architecturally good enough to be on that corner, and is cheap enough so we can afford to build it.”

Leach Mounce is no stranger to Ventura County. The firm, which has offices in Ventura and Glendale, designed the East County Sheriff’s Station on Olsen Road and the Oxnard Transit Center.

Those two buildings are strikingly different. The sheriff’s station is a long, low concrete structure, far-removed from other buildings and surrounded by elaborate landscaping.

Conversely, the Oxnard Transit Center is a stately brick building. Tall with plate-glass windows, it is set near the heart of the city.

Howard Leach, president of Leach Mounce, said he is confident the firm will come up with a style that will fit Simi Valley.

“Our goal will be to find something that will harmonize with the existing buildings,” Leach said. “We want the building to fit well with its surroundings.”

City leaders say they want a building that will be safe and secure for police activities, but not drab.

“I don’t know what it should look like, but I have a few ideas of what I don’t want it to look like,” Stratton said. “I don’t want it to look like the County Jail or a military fort.”

The city began planning to build a new headquarters about a year ago, after the earthquake in January, 1994, damaged the existing station, which was already run-down and overcrowded.

Preliminary designs for the new station include thousands of additional square feet of space and an underground parking garage.

If the project proceeds on schedule, construction could begin in June, 1996, and the new headquarters could be completed by September, 1997.

Councilwoman Sandi Webb, who served on the search panel, said she hopes the new station will reflect the city’s commitment to safety.

“I think it should say something about the mood of our community,” she said. “That we prize our safety and the dedication of our officers.”