The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center is in the construction phase, with grading, hauling and grubbing and utilities infrastructure work in motion.

The Dickens Administration briefed members of the Finance/Executive Committee of the Atlanta City Council on the status of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, showing detailed renderings, timelines, permitting status, and updated budget numbers. The report also included an update on the community-based recommendations by the Community Stakeholder Advisory Council and the Mayor’s South River Forest and Public Safety Training Center Task Force for the center and surrounding site.

“We are moving forward as planned and not allowing distractions to deter us from improving the safety of Atlantans by completing the public safety training center" said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. “We have intentionally worked to incorporate the voice of the people, garnering strong support from the majority of our citizens who actively contributed valuable recommendations and feedback to this effort. The public persistently asks us to keep them safe from fire, violence and medical emergencies and we deployed strategies that contributed to Atlanta achieving one of the highest reductions in violence among major cities in America.”  

 Deputy Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burks told the committee that the frequency and intensity of the attacks in opposition to the training center – including a recent defacing of the landmark Manuel’s Tavern – have contributed significantly to an increase in the estimated cost for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center from $90 million to $109.6 million. This includes $6 million for additional security and $400,000 for insurance increases. Neither the City of Atlanta nor Atlanta taxpayers will be responsible for the $19.6 million in incremental costs, Burks said.

Atlanta taxpayers will not bear the burden of these additional costs.

Also today, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum and Atlanta Fire Rescue First Deputy Chief James McLemore briefed members of the press on the latest round of criminal violence and intimidation that included arson, property and equipment destruction, and other targeted attacks by a violent subgroup of individuals who are opposed to the training center. Over the course of the development of the training center, there have been more than 80 criminal instances and over 173 arrests. Of these criminal instances, 23 were acts of arson that have resulted in the destruction of 81 pieces of equipment and buildings across 23 states. This includes the destruction of Atlanta Police Department motorcycles and a firebombing at the At-Promise Center, a local youth crime diversion program.

The development of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center is more than 75 percent complete despite numerous, repeated criminal attempts to sabotage its progress for nearly two years.

The City’s share of the training center construction cost, approved by the Atlanta City Council in June 2023, remains an allocation of $31 million. The other Council-approved training center cost, which is a budget-neutral annual lease-back payment to the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) of $1.2 million, is not an incremental, additional, or new expense for the city’s taxpayers. As outlined previously, the city currently pays $1.4 million annually for various leases for suboptimal training facilities around the city and metro area. Once the new training center is built, the City will cancel those various leases and start making the $1.2 million leaseback payments to APF. The leaseback payments are a $200,000 annual savings or a $6 million savings over 30 years.  

The anticipated completion date is December 2024.

More information about the Public Safety Training Center can be found online at ATLTrainingCenter.com.