(Los Angeles, CA) Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) broke ground today on a state-of-the-art $220 million Airport Police Facility that will consolidate operations from eight separate locations under one roof just north of the Central Terminal Area in Westchester.
“The new consolidated LAWA Police facility, which will watch over all of LAX as well as the LAX Northside, will improve public safety and allow for faster responses times to calls on or immediately adjacent to airport property," said the Hon. Mike Bonin, Los Angeles City Council Member, District 11. "It will also be a revitalizing improvement for the neighborhood, bringing more business and economic growth to the many small businesses in Downtown Westchester.”
"The design of this new facility is as functional as it is beautiful, and will help us to continue operating LAX safely and securely, which is important not only to our guests, but to our neighbors as well," said Valeria Velasco, Vice President, Board of Airport Commissioners. "This is LAWA’s first project groundbreaking in Westchester that is part of our Northside Plan and we are excited to see it get underway."
Consolidation of the current police facilities was a recommendation in the 2011 Report of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Airport Security. The 160,000-square-foot building will be located on the northeast corner of Westchester Parkway and Loyola Boulevard. The 12-acre development will also include a new 960-stall parking structure.
“Ensuring the safety and security of our guests and employees is the foundation of everything we do at Los Angeles World Airports and this new state-of-the-art Airport Police Facility will facilitate more efficient operations across our various police divisions and with our partner agencies,” said Deborah Flint, CEO, Los Angeles World Airports. “The Los Angeles Airport Police Division is the largest airport police department in the country, and with this new facility our APD will be even better equipped to serve our airports for decades to come.”
"Our new police facility will provide a contemporary and professional environment to support the important work done around the clock by the men and women of the Airport Police," said David L. Maggard Jr., Deputy Executive Director, Public Safety, LAWA. "As a result, we will be both more efficient and more effective in the way we provide the highest level of public safety services to the airport community."
"Hensel Phelps is proud to have been entrusted with the delivery of this historic facility for the LAX Airport Police Department, a long time in the making," said Jeff Brunswig, Program Executive, Hensel Phelps.
The new 160,000-square-foot facility will include space for the Los Angeles Airport Police Division’s (APD) Office of Operations, Office of Support Services, Office of Homeland Security and Intelligence, Emergency Service Unit, Traffic and Security Group, Bomb Disposal Unit, K-9 Unit, a practice range and a multi-purpose room. It will also include a landscaped paseo along Westchester Parkway.
Consolidating many of the APD operations at one site will improve the communication and coordination of operations and resources for essential public safety services at LAX. When completed, it will be one of the largest police facilities in the state.
The Airport Police Facility project will include many sustainability features including dual-piping for future recycled water use. The maximum size solar/photo-voltaic system allowed will be installed on the headquarters building, consistent with Federal Aviation Administration requirements, for glare and other technical considerations. The facility is being built to CalGreen Tier 1 standards and designed to attain, at a minimum, LEED Silver certification.
The facility is being designed and constructed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) and Hensel Phelps (HP).
The project advances LAWA’s strategic goal and objective to “Deliver Facilities & Guest
Experiences that are Exceptional: Develop, maintain and operate first class facilities.”
The innovative facility is designed to accommodate continuous operations of critical police functions, with infrastructure to support the next generation of law-enforcement technologies and practices.
The building is expected to be open and fully functioning by mid-2021.
