Phoenix starts major renovations on new police headquarters
Phoenix leaders held a ceremony Thursday, Nov. 2, to kick off renovations for the future police headquarters.
Since spending $46 million to buy the former Wells Fargo tower two years ago, Phoenix has been updating its core infrastructure and working on design and construction needs.
Councilwoman Ann O’Brien noted the current headquarters was built in 1975.
“We were 600,000 people in Phoenix when we built that. We are almost three times that amount of people today," she said.
Phoenix previously estimated it would spend another $90 million on retrofits and updates to the 27-story building at Central Avenue and Washington Street. It will offer triple the space of current headquarters at Seventh Avenue and Washington.
“We’re investing in the future of this community, but we're really showing the first responders how we value them,” said Police Chief Michael Sullivan. “And I think that’s so important and so important today to make sure the people who do this special work — from our 911 operators to our professional staff to our officers — understand how much they are valued.”
In 2018, when describing current headquarters, Jeri Williams, police chief at the time, said, "... technologically that building that we’re in now is obsolete.”
The 911 center will occupy the top three floors and is expected to move in first during summer 2024, with other employees being phased in through 2025.
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