Norwich ― Norwich voters narrowly rejected a proposed $44.75 million new police station, but handily approved a $6 million bond to continue road and bridge improvements throughout the city.

With absentee ballots included in late-Tuesday tallies, the police station was defeated with 2,799 votes against and 2,634 votes in favor. This was the second attempt in 12 years to try to build a new police station.

The plan called for a 50,000-square-foot new station to replace the cramped and obsolete 1979 station at 70 Thames St. The new station would include a community room, training classrooms, an emergency operations center, main desk, dispatch center, areas for the public, prisoner processing, detention and transport, an armory, parking and electric vehicle charging stations.

The referendum question did not include a site, but the City Council in October voted in October to purchase a nearly 30-acre vacant property off Ox Hill Road behind the Rose City Senior Center for $385,000 using federal American Rescue Plan Act grant money. About three acres of the land would be for the new police station.

Voters overwhelmingly approved the $6 million bond to continue ongoing road and bridge improvements, with 4,330 voting in favor and 1,085 against.

Voters have approved similar road bonds five times since 2009, most recently for $5 million in 2019.