BRIDGEPORT — The decades-old Police Department headquarters on Congress Street will be partially closed March 1 as the city removes asbestos, slaps on a coat of paint and installs new ceiling and flooring.

"We will have a well-refurbished building," said George Estrada, the city's public facilities director.

D.J. Contractors of Pine Brook, N.J., is expected to take five months to complete the overall project, he said.

The work will start on the fourth and third floors, Estrada said. Those areas encompass offices, including the police chief's, and storage space.

The other two floors will remain in use until work begins there, Estrada said. Booking and the police union office are on the second floor, and the lobby and Detective Bureau on the first floor.

The Patrol Division is located below the first floor.

Personnel and furniture will be moved to space at the City Hall Annex on Broad Street, while alternate plans for the booking department — where prisoners are held — are being made, Estrada said.

While asbestos, a cancer-causing, fire-retardant mineral, has not been detected in the building's air, concerns about it have arisen before.

More than two years ago, a furnace malfunction sprayed dust and soot inside the building.

More recently, department employees reported dust falling from ceiling tiles, prompting an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

No asbestos was found in the air in either case.

But portions of the structure previously were cleaned of asbestos, Estrada said.

This year's project is expected to cost about $1.3 million, said Caryn Kaufman, spokeswoman for Mayor John M. Fabrizi.

The city borrowed $325,000 for the workin July 2003 and $500,000 last August. The city still needs to borrow the final $500,000 installment, Kaufman said.

During a recent Board of Police Commissioners meeting, Officer Sean Ronan, president of Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159, questioned the delays.

"It seems to keep getting pushed back," he said of the work.

He claimed the project was originally scheduled to begin last October, then was moved to Thanksgiving, and finally rescheduled to start in March.

He said Wednesday that the union is taking a "wait-and-see attitude" regarding the latest renovation schedule.

He said he is concerned about asbestos coming from the third and fourth floors while the lower floors are in use.

"We're working toward ensuring all the employees are going to be safe," he said.

Aaron Leo, who covers regional issues, can be reached at 330-6222.