Former Clear Lake City Council member Rod Pump urged city leaders Monday night to begin thinking about acquiring Lincoln Elementary School for future police and recreation department expansion.

Clear Lake School officials have announced Lincoln School, located on the corner of South 8th Street and 4th Avenue South, will close at the completion of this school year. First and second graders at Lincoln will join third through fifth grades at Clear Creek Elementary School in August. An addition to Clear Creek is currently under construction.

Interim Superintendent Dwight Pierson could not be reached for comment, but the Clear Lake School Board has not made any decisions regarding the future of the Lincoln School property.

Pump suggested relocating the city’s police department into the newer addition at Lincoln, giving the department much needed room to expand, as well as make it more visible and conveniently located within the community. The parks department, he said, would benefit from the gymnasium at the school, as well as the playground and storage space. The department currently stores equipment at various locations, including the city’s Public Works Building.

Moving the police department out of City Hall would give the fire department and city offices more room at that building, as well.

“I would just like to get the community started talking about keeping the building and not go through the demolition process, or pursue long studies,” said Pump.

Council Representative Dave Solberg thanked Pump for the input and noted a recent study of the downtown area by RDG Design identified inadequate space for the fire and police departments, as well as the difficulty of finding the offices. “There’s a lot in that study and now with new opportunities we should look at that study again,” said Solberg.

Police Chief Greg Peterson also thanked Pump for bringing his ideas forward and said although changes for his department are still in the talking stages, he didn’t want to see opportunities missed.

Pump also suggested a visitor information center could be included at the site because of its easy to find location between Interstate 35 and the downtown and lake.

“It’s one of the first buildings to greet people traveling to the lake and downtown. It’s easily accessible and keeps an anchor in the neighborhood.”