The Santa Clarita City Council is expected to approve a deal with the county Tuesday to build a new, two-story, 44,339-square-foot sheriff station on Golden Valley Road, roughly double the size of the current facility in Valencia, which it would replace.

The new station would be erected on the 6.5-acre city-owned property currently used by the temporary Fire Station 104, between Center Pointe Parkway and Robert C. Lee Parkway (Golden Valley High School).

The agreement comes on the heels of news that the potential 70,000-resident Newhall Ranch project, which would have shifted the valley’s population to the west, was put on hold indefinitely by the courts. The county had planned to move the SCV Sheriff’s Station there.

Since 1972, when the existing 25,100-square-foot sheriff station was built, much of the actual growth has occurred to the east (Canyon Country) and north (Saugus). The city and apparently the county believe the Golden Valley site is more centrally located to the existing population.

“Since the time the (current) station was built, the population of the Santa Clarita Valley has increased approximately six-fold, from approximately 50,000 to 299,000. Given the age of the current station and the population growth of the Santa Clarita Valley, the station is undersized and obsolete. In addition, given the growth in the eastern and northern areas of the SCV, the station is not ideally located to effectively serve the entire city,” according to a report from City Manager Ken Striplin.

The agreement that the council will consider Tuesday, including the preliminary site plan, is the result of talks that have been underway since last year between city staff and Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich’s staff, according to Striplin’s report.

The estimated cost of the new station is $51 million, including $38.5 million for construction, $11.5 million for design and project management, and $1 million for furniture and lockers.

The city would own the property and the building. Under the agreement, the county would pay $15 million and the city would pay the balance, largely through bond financing.

The county would lease the facility from the city rent-free as long as the city contracts with the county for police service. Under the deal, the city agrees to contract with the county for at least 15 years; otherwise the county gets its $15 million back.

Both the city and county would approve all construction plans, and the city would manage the construction.

The project would include an additional 4,000 square-foot service garage and a 2,500-square-foot helipad.

The existing sheriff station building and its 6,360-square-foot service building in Valencia would remain under county ownership. Their future use is unspecified in the agreement.

Like the current sheriff station, the new station would serve both the city of Santa Clarita and the unincorporated areas of the Santa Clarita Valley such as Stevenson Ranch, Castaic and Tesoro del Valle.