The Atlanta Police Foundation and APD Urban hosted their first public discussion about the proposed police and fire rescue training facility on Thursday evening.
At the hourlong meeting for Atlanta residents, officials provided more details on the center and spent 35 minutes answering questions from attendees.
The facility would be built across 150 acres of the old Atlanta Prison Farm on city-owned land in unincorporated DeKalb County. While the training area is expected to take up 85 acres of land, about 95 acres would be preserved as green space and 170 acres as public park space, according to the police foundation. Those numbers are subject to change based on public input and final planning.
Public pushback has grown significantly since Councilmember Joyce Sheperd sponsored legislation for the facility’s location on June 7. Residents have expressed frustration regarding the lack of public input prior to the location’s selection, potential negative environmental impacts, and the increased investment into Atlanta police. At the last City Council Public Safety Committee meeting, public comments on the facility spanned over five hours.
Thursday’s session, which was virtual, was limited to 100 attendees for approximately 15 minutes, prompting some backlash on social media. After the meeting opened to more people, over 180 people joined but could not directly ask speakers questions or provide comments during the session. Event administrators from APD Urban selected questions addressed by speakers.
Representatives from the Atlanta Police Department and Atlanta Fire Rescue Department explained that having the new facility would improve recruitment as both departments face workforce shortages.
The fire and rescue team has a 153 person shortage with 1,029 current sworn firefighters on the force, officials said. The police department has a 400 officer shortage with 1,646 current sworn officers.
“We are in desperate need of a training location ... This will create a positive impact on the ability to recruit and retain firefighters,” said Deputy Fire Chief James McLemore.
Officials credited the deterioration of the current police training facility located in an old elementary school to the building’s structure and age, noting that the city does not own the space and instead leases the building from Atlanta Public Schools.
Both the police and fire rescue training centers have been “deemed inoperable and abandoned at this point,” Atlanta Police Foundation Chief Operating Officer Marshall Freeman said. Presenters said the fire rescue training center, for example, is mold-infested.
When asked by residents about the lack of public input prior to the site’s selection, Freeman said officials wanted to wait until a committee formed by the mayor’s office proposed recommendations and there was concrete funding.
“We can’t go back and undo what was done at this time, and so I think the only plan that we have here is to move forward and to really work with the community and everybody in the actual sessions to come up with what does the final design look like,” Freeman said.
Some attendees raised concerns about the site’s ecological impact, particularly concerning the potential for lead poisoning from the firing range. Freeman said the facility will be built in accordance with EPA standards to avoid polluting the South River and surrounding area.
Constructing the public safety training center is expected to cost $90 million, Atlanta Police Foundation President and CEO Dave Wilkinson told members on the City Council Public Safety Committee on Monday. The city would contribute $30 million to the project through a 30-year, $1-million-per-year lease beginning in 2024 or a single contribution through a general obligation bond.
The center’s construction would occur in phases, with the first $60 million phase funded by the Atlanta Police Foundation using “philanthropic and corporate donations.” Philanthropic donations are expected to cover $40 million of the project.
Cox Enterprises President and CEO Alex Taylor, who chairs the Atlanta Committee for Progress, is leading a campaign to raise private funds for the project. Cox Enterprises owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Legislation that would lease the land to the police foundation for the construction of the facility is currently pending in the City Council. The next scheduled input session for DeKalb County residents will take place on July 29.
