The Associated Press
FLINT, Mich. (AP) - The wives of the city’s mayor and police chief have joined together to give the police department’s squad room an extreme makeover of its own.
Mayor Don Williamson’s wife, Patsy Lou, decided a change was in order when she saw the condition of the department’s basement meeting room.
“I couldn’t believe how bad of shape it was in,” Patsy Lou Williamson told The Flint Journal for a Thursday story.
And the improvements won’t cost city taxpayers a penny. With Patsy Lou Williamson’s car dealership picking up the tab, she and Marian Hagler, wife of Flint Police Chief Gary Hagler, went shopping and bought everything from gray tweed carpet to new furniture.
Workers already have put in a new dropped ceiling, recarpeted the floor and painted the walls.
“It’s been a long time since paint got thrown on those walls,” Gary Hagler said.
The design team wanted to give the officers nicer chairs, but the women decided against it amid fears that officers’ sidearms and handcuffs would eventually tear the fabric to shreds.
Though the room has come a long way, it’s still a work in progress. New tables have been ordered, a customized television stand has yet to be built and workers are still adding a few cosmetic touches.
Patsy Lou Williamson said she doesn’t know what the final cost of the project will be, but estimated it at a few thousand dollars.
“We wanted to do something to help the morale of the department,” she said.
Keith Speer, president of the Flint Police Officers Association, said the officers appreciate the work the women have done to improve the room.