Palo Alto Breaks Ground On $118M Police Headquarters

PALO ALTO, CA — A project 30 years in the making came to fruition on Wednesday, as the city of Palo Alto held a groundbreaking ceremony for its $118 million public safety building that is projected to be completed in 2023.

The 56,000-square foot building on 1.2 acres of land will be located at 250 Sherman Avenue, next to the busy California Avenue. It replaces the old police building at city hall, which was built in 1971 and has been acknowledged by the city as inadequate. The new building, which the Palo Alto Weekly called the “largest and most complex infrastructure project in the city’s history,” will host a unified command for the police and fire departments, other emergency services and space for public works staff.

“Today the word ‘groundbreaking’ stands for so much more than the literal breaking of ground,” Police Chief Robert Jonsen said. “It really stands for our elected officials’ wisdom and perseverance, both past and present, who have really made today possible by choosing to invest in public safety for the future of this city.”

The city council approved the project in February by a 5-2 vote despite concerns over the city’s finances. Ultimately, the city decided the project was worth the cost in order to provide a much-needed upgrade for essential emergency services.

“Our current building it’s been inadequate for years, but yet men and women have come to this city to serve this city and work in that environment for decades,” Jonsen said. “That’s something that I'm very proud to say will not be for much longer.”

Ken Dueker, the city’s director of the Office of Emergency Services, said that Palo Alto faces risks of wildfires, major crime, technology accidents and cyberattacks.

“This building is an acknowledgement by our elected officials by our greater community that Palo Alto is a special place, but we’re not so special that we don’t have hazards and threats and risks that every other community faces,” Dueker said.

The building will be partially powered by a solar canopy on top of an adjacent parking garage, and it will be Palo Alto’s first building to have an all-electric design.

“This has been in the works for a very long time,” Mayor Tom DuBois said. “It’s very hard sometimes to get a large project like this off the ground. So it’s quite an accomplishment. We’ll all be proud to be getting this project going.”