The Pelham City Council accepted a bid Monday night from contractors for the building of the city’s new public safety building.

The new building will house the Pelham Police Department, the Pelham City Court and the magistrate’s office.

The facility will be located adjacent to Pelham City Hall on the lot where Pelham First Baptist Church once stood.

Pelham Police Capt. Tommy Thomas said the new building will cost about $6.3 million and

work has already begun on the project.

In addition to accepting the bid, the council also approved the payment of an additional $9,550 to D.H. Griffin contractors for demolishing the old church building.

Thomas said the church has already been demolished, and preparation work on the ground has begun.

The new safety building is scheduled to be finished in 12-14 months, and Thomas said it will have a number of new security and technology features.

&uot;The building will be three stories tall and will have a number of features including high-tech security systems in the jail and courtrooms and an indoor firing range for officers to train,&uot; he said.

The building will be 43,000 square feet in size.

In other business, the council announced that to honor the July 4 holiday, it has moved its meeting on that day to July 11 at 7 p.m