NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The Niagara Falls Police Department is opening a new substation.

The goal is to increase security at the city's water treatment plant and improve police response in the LaSalle area.

Patrol officers now have an additional place to file reports and recharge communication equipment instead of having to head all the way back to the downtown headquarters.

The substation will not be open to the public.

"The facility is not going to be staffed like the police station is," said Mayor Robert Restaino. "It is a location for the officers in this zone to use for their benefit as they are, sort of, patrolling out of this area."

The substation came about after the mayor spotted an abandoned shack at the Niagara Falls Water Board during a tour of the facility.

They were able to update the building, at no cost to taxpayers, by using in-house workers and surplus office supplies.