St. Petersburg Police Headquarters Set for February Debut

By Aziza Jackson

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ­— The City of St. Petersburg is nearing the completion of its new $85 million police headquarters, which is set to officially open in February 2019.

Harvard Jolly Architects and AECOM are serving as the project’s architects. Ajax Building Corporation is the construction manager for the city’s new police headquarters, which will consist of a new main building with an administrative wing, a property and evidence wing, a parking structure, and a central energy plant on a 6.3-acre site.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, ground was broken on the new facility in April 2017 and construction began in early May. The main headquarters has reportedly been built to withstand Category 5 hurricane strength winds and ballistic impact. The Journal reports that major redundancies in vital systems have also been included in the facility’s initial planning in an effort to ensure the police department is never without essential services, including multiple generators to reportedly protect against power outages and two layers of roofing for the entire building, according to City Architect Raul Quintana.

The main building is a three-story, 170,000-square-foot structure. This building will house the Property and Evidence Management Division, Forensics, Vice and Narcotics Property Unit, Mobile Field Force, Vehicle Evidence Processing, Tactical Apprehension Control,  Public Access, Records, Uniform Services Bureau, Investigative Services Bureau, Administrative Services, Office of the Chief, the Data Center for PO and ICS, the city’s Emergency Operations Center, the Communications Center which will serve as the backup 911 center for Pinellas County, and other essential law enforcement divisions.  Work will also include construction of a central energy plant, a 321-car, four-level structured parking facility, surface site parking, secured perimeter fencing and access control system, and site civil requirements.

The Administrative & Property & Evidence building, and the CEP will be tilt-wall construction. The parking garage will be pre-cast concrete.  The CEP will house water-producing, high efficiency pumps, cooling towers, and other mechanical equipment which will supply chilled water to the air handling units inside the main building. The facility is served by an emergency power system which will service the critical operations areas in addition to life safety functions.  The facility will integrate leading edge technology, communication, and audio/visual systems.  There will also be an alternate to add a photovoltaic panel system at the parking garage. The entire facility will be designed to a 195 mph wind design criteria.

As of early December, installation of ceiling tile and LVT flooring was reportedly ongoing on the first floor of the administrative wing. Drywall/Paint punch and ceramic tile installation are currently ongoing on the third floor of the building’s administrative wing. Access flooring on the administrative wing is complete. Overhead ductwork and MEP rough-in are ongoing on the annex wing. Storm installation on 13th Street is now complete. Site walls and planters on 13th Street are ongoing. Site grading for parking areas and for sidewalks at the administrative and annex wing is ongoing. Site electrical and security rough-in is underway. PV panels at parking garage is complete. Metal panels and storm water piping on parking garage is complete. Bollards installation and texture coating is ongoing in the parking garage.

A report from the Tampa Bay Business Journal contributed to this story.