For years, police in Winters handcuffed prisoners to a metal rail bolted to the wall, and they stored paper towels in the city's antiquated jail cell.

They put evidence into gym lockers, held down the rotting carpet with duct tape, and worked in cramped, run-down spaces.

The Yolo County grand jury urged the city to replace the police station behind City Hall.

"It was demoralizing," said Winters Police Chief Bruce Muramoto. "It was dysfunctional."

Firefighters didn't have it much better.

The garage where they parked their firetrucks was so narrow that they couldn't open doors on both sides of a truck at the same time.

Part of the fire station was a hay barn from the 1890s. Peeling linoleum lined the halls. The chief put up a sign in his dark hole of an office that read "mental ward."

In the past two weeks, all that's changed.

Police and firefighters have been moving into a state-of-the-art new public-safety facility on Main Street that has been years in the making and cost $8.4 million.

It boasts necessities, including two modern holding cells for prisoners, and amenities such as a big-screen TV and leather recliners for the firefighters.

The 43,000-square-foot station is light and airy, modern and functional.

The fire side of the building is red. The police side is blue. Its architecture mirrors the agricultural buildings of the surrounding countryside. From Main Street, it looks like a big red barn.

Those who work there couldn't be more pleased.

"My guys are overwhelmed and proud of being in a facility as nice as this," Muramoto said. "This is their home. This is their house."

State redevelopment dollars paid for the new station, said City Manager John Donlevy.

It was built for about $170 a square foot; similar projects elsewhere cost about $300 a square foot, he said.

The costs savings came from the design and from lower construction costs during the recession, officials said.

The station was designed by architect Dennis Dong of Sacramento and built by Bobo Construction of Elk Grove.

On Monday, Muramoto and Fire Chief Scott Dozier gave visitors a tour of the new facility. An open house for residents is planned in October.

Dozier showed off a vast parking bay filled with firetrucks. The garage has a heated floor and huge ceiling fan, allowing comfortable use year-round.

Smiling, Dozier said there would be plenty of room for the "shrimp-and-pasta feed" fundraiser the department will hold next month.

Racks of hoses line the walls. Firefighters stowed their new protective gear, paid for with a voter-approved increase in utility fees.

From their second-story sleeping quarters, with pillow-topped mattresses and study spaces, they practiced sliding down a brass pole to the trucks below.

The new sleeping quarters and increase in utility rates allow for 24-hour staffing of the fire station seven days a week. With only four paid, full-time firefighters, the department relies on about four dozen volunteers and reservists.

Dozier said the new public-safety facility would help attract businesses and residents to the town of 7,000 in western Yolo County. Residential and economic growth is part of the city's general plan.

"This building is opening a whole new chapter in Winters," he said.

Muramoto is grateful for new amenities such as rooms to interview victims and suspects. The old police station, a converted fire station behind City Hall, didn't have them. Officers often had to search other public buildings for private interview spaces.

It also didn't have hot water in the men's room, and the toilet was covered in duct tape because it didn't flush. There were just a few small lockers for officers to stash their clothes.

That's why Muramoto showed a visitor the new locker room, with spacious lockers, showers and gleaming wood benches.

There's a high-tech training room and an armory for weapons that replaces an old gun safe.

The reception area has bulletproof glass; the old station had a sliding plastic window. Records supervisor Karla Ferguson said she relied on her smile to prevent trouble.

The Winters Police Department has 10 officers, and often only one officer on duty, due to budget cuts.

Muramoto called the new station one of the nicest in the region and said it will help officers work more efficiently and with less stress, despite their depleted ranks.

Some residents grumble that the large new station was unnecessary.

Muramoto said the facility was built to be functional for decades to come but wasn't lavish.

"It's not a Yugo or a Cadillac," he said. "This is a Toyota Camry."

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.

• Read more articles by Hudson Sangree