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The Atlanta Police Department will continue to train in a temporary facility on the Atlanta Metropolitan State College as construction work on the contentious public safety center continues.
The Atlanta City Council on Monday authorized renewal of the lease for one year, beginning July 1. The University System of Georgia's Board of Regents is the landlord of the space.
The city leases 26,000 square feet across two buildings at 1630 Metropolitan Pkwy, where the Atlanta Police Department has operated its training facility since 2021. The space costs $26,790 in rent per month, according to the City Council agenda. This expenditure is partly paid from the general fund.
Once construction is finished, all training activities will relocate to the city’s $90 million police and fire safety training center in unincorporated DeKalb County. Construction on the 85-acre project is around 40% complete, said Rob Baskin, the Atlanta Police Foundation’s director of public affairs and communications. Vertical construction for the buildings on-site is expected to begin in around 45 days, with the overall campus opening in December.
Since its conceptualization, the project has faced opposition from residents concerned over police militarization, urban forest destruction and its proximity to residential neighborhoods. Protests have been held across the country to halt progress on the site. One person was fatally shot at the planned site last January.
Opponents of the complex dubbed "Cop City" want to force a ballot referendum that would cancel the city’s lease with the Atlanta Police Foundation.
City officials say the public safety center is needed to provide law enforcement officials with one central location for training, professional development and continuing education, as well as replace substandard and condemned facilities currently in operation. The city pays more than $1.4 million each year for leases for training facilities spread across the city, according to a July news release.
Contributions and grants
| Rank | Prior Rank | Foundation name |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta |
2 | 2 | Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley |
3 | 3 | The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area |
