1 SHERIFF'S POST TO CLOSE, 1 TO OPEN IN LANCASTER.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

After 35 years of service, the Antelope Valley sheriff's station is scheduled to close Tuesday and be replaced by a new, larger one.

In a switch that will take place literally overnight, both stations will operate from about midnight tonight and 3 a.m. Tuesday, then the new $25 million Lancaster sheriff's station will begin its first day of solo operation.

``The early-morning shift deputies will leave the old station (for patrol) at 10:30 p.m. but when they return, they'll return to the Lancaster station,'' said Sgt. Mike Handley. ``After that, everything they will do will be at Lancaster.''

The new facility at Lancaster Boulevard and Sierra Highway was built as a joint effort between the city of Lancaster and the county under a 1992 agreement for $144 million worth of county facilities in the city.

Nearly twice the size of the current station, the new 50,900-square-foot facility features a station house, administration building, crime lab and a new 911 system.

``We're excited that moving day has finally come,'' said Capt. Michael Aranda, station commander. ``We've been working from cramped conditions for so long.''

Deputies said they will leave memories at the old station, opened in 1961 next to the Antelope Valley Courthouse at Avenue J and 10th Street West.

``We're gonna miss this building,'' said Sgt. Darrel Brown. ``There is a lot of history here. A lot of deputies have come and gone. We've done a lot here. It's gonna be tough to leave.''

As Handley cleaned out his locker Friday, he found old photos, parts of a uniform, old reports, old business cards and a nightstick that he had acquired over the 26 years he has served in Antelope Valley.

``You remember all the good times and all the bad times,'' Handley said. ``All the risks you took and then lived, and laugh about later. You remember the people - the good people you work with - people who care about the community they serve. Now we'll start building on new memories.''

According to Handley, who collects Antelope Valley sheriff's memorabilia, the first known sheriff's station in the valley was at Cedar Street and Lancaster Boulevard, starting in 1923. It was rebuilt in 1937 after a fire.

A fire also delayed a move to the Avenue J facility. Built in 1959, it burned down in an fire caused by a welder's torch two weeks before the department was to move in. It was rebuilt two years later.

Built to accommodate 125 deputies, the station now holds 258 sworn personnel, plus 48 civilian employees.

``We've been cramped for at least the last 10 years,'' said Brown. ``When we opened, no one predicted that the valley would grow so fast, and we soon outgrew this building.''

The city of Lancaster and the county are working together on plans to remodel the vacated Avenue J facility, which is expected to house a courtroom and offices for sheriff's homicide and arson/explosives detectives.

The rehabilitation project has a tentative budget of $1 million. Most of the money will come from the bond revenue previously set aside for the new sheriff's station, which came in about $800,000 under budget, said Lancaster Public Works Director Jeff Long.