When rain falls on North Beach, the officers who use the men’s locker room in the SFPD’s Central Station know what to expect: the putrid stench of sewage. For years, cops have ignored the bubbling intrusion of bacteria along with dozens of other deficiencies.

But a $226,000 study released last week —slated for discussion tonight between the Police Commission and the Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee — suggested not only that Central Station is need of major repair, but that its replacement become a sort of superstation that covers more high-crime areas, such as a large swath of South of Market and the Tenderloin.

“The [Central] Station is not seismically sound, there is a sewer issue, the female locker room is in the garage, the holding facility is unusable and the station is too small,” the audit declared.

The report faults most of The City’s 10 stations, but none so much as Central — which is almost 40 years old — and its neighbor Southern Station, located inside the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St. There are plans to rebuild the Southern Station in Mission Bay, but none currently for Central.

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But one of the biggest positives for the station, which sits on the border of Chinatown and North Beach, is the ability of officers to connect with the community. Walking the beat in Central is such a pleasure that Sgt. Carl Tennenbaum does it regularly, despite his role as a supervisor.

Despite the condition of the station, officers still wait an average of 15 years to be transferred there.

“Every station has its own little identity,” he said. “You can’t build a super structure and cater to the people around you. Being in the neighborhood is a big plus.”

The station is located under a public parking garage, which is a potential security concern, said Rick Bailey, a retired police chief from Massachusetts who worked on the report. The station also lacks a proper holding area. Almost a decade ago, state regulators came into the station and deemed it unfit for holding prisoners.

“Detainees would be killing themselves while officers were in the booking room,” police union President Gary Delagnes, who worked at Central Station for more than a decade, said.

bbegin@sfexaminer.com