Rockville City Police Station

Features

The Rockville City Police Department moved from Rockville City Hall to its current location at the former Rockville Post Office, 2 W. Montgomery Ave., in October 2012. The station’s parking lot serves as a safe online transaction zone with 24/7 exterior surveillance.

Historic Restoration and Expansion

The Rockville Post Office, built in 1939 under the Public Works Administration, ceased full-time operations in October 2006. The General Services Administration later offered the property to the City of Rockville under favorable terms for homeland security and public safety use. The city moved forward with plans to preserve, adapt, and repurpose the building as the new RCPD headquarters.

The project was subject to oversight by both the Maryland Historical Trust and Rockville’s Historic District Commission. Designed to meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, it faced the challenge of fitting a 27,000 square-foot police facility into a 9,500-square-foot historic structure. To achieve this, the city constructed a new annex building linked to the historic post office via an underground tunnel, expanded the basement of the historic post office, and added a second floor under its existing high clerestory.

The historic building now houses administrative offices, while the annex serves as the 24-hour operational hub. The exterior underwent meticulous restoration, including repointing and restoring windows. While the interior was reconfigured, the lobby and entrance tower were preserved and restored. The lobby remains open during business hours, allowing visitors to view the historic mural on the south wall.

The historic building’s signature feature is its two-story hexagonal entrance tower, which influenced the design of the annex entry and monument marker at West Montgomery and South Washington streets. The annex tower remains set back and lower in height to respect the historic structure.

The project’s material palette reinterpreted the historic post office’s design while blending with its existing materials. The post office’s exterior features four primary materials—limestone, beige brick, copper cladding, and glazing. The new construction incorporated similar elements, including a 12×24 building stone, beige brick, weathered zinc cladding, and storefront glazing.

To distinguish old from new, beige brick was reserved exclusively for the annex, avoiding use in additions to the historic post office. This approach differentiated the new structure while maintaining harmony with the site’s historic character.

Overall, the project honored the significance of the historic post office while integrating modern space, systems, and infrastructure to support a contemporary municipal law enforcement facility.