Two construction firms submitted bids Wednesday to the Board of Public Works for a planned overhaul of the Los Angeles Police Department’s 1930s-era training academy in Elysian Park. Both bids are significantly higher than the $30 million the city’s request for proposal estimated.
Santa Fe Springs company Kemp Brothers Construction Inc. bid $34 million, while its competitor, Costa Mesa firm S.J. Amoroso Construction Co. Inc., put the cost for renovation at $38 million.
S.J. Amoroso has built a number of LAPD buildings in recent years, including the regional joint-agency crime lab that LAPD shares with the Sheriff’s Department.
Renovation of the aging campus has been in the works for nearly two decades, stymied by legal maneuvering and a big change in scope, but it is now slated to begin in July and be completed in late summer 2016.
Plans include a revamp of the police administration building and its attached cafe, as well as renovations to the facility’s four shooting ranges. The 1970s-era Jack Webb Recruit Building, named after the “Dragnet” actor who funded its construction, will be torn down and replaced.
“Most of it is going to bringing the facilities up to code,” said Thomas Brennan, commanding officer of LAPD facilities division. He said much of the early plans for the renovation — talk started in the 1990s — were aimed at updating fire and safety code as well as replacing worn electrical infrastructure. Water main breaks in recent years also made clear the need for plumbing work.
“As we looked at the facilities, the scope of the project increased,” Brennan said. “It became very obvious that more work was needed.”
During the planned two-year face-lift, most classes will be moved to LAPD training facilities in Westchester and Sylmar, where most training already occurs, as well as community and roll call rooms at local police stations. Minimal facilities will be available, including alternating shooting ranges, during the construction.
The project is being funded by $699 million created for additional police buildings by voter-approved Proposition Q, and overall cost has been estimated at $41 million.
The renovation work has been long-delayed due to negotiations between the city and the Los Angeles Police Revolver and Athletic Club, a nonprofit group that most officers belong to that started and built much of the academy long before training was standard for police officers.
Each claimed ownership of much of the property due to a long history of handshake agreements that allowed their coexistence. After the department formalized a training program for new recruits, bond money could not legally be used on property owned by a private organization. Legal wrangling continued through February 2012, when the two came to an agreement that codified the land rights and provided for a facilities lease-back option for the club once the renovations are complete.
