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New police precinct building set for East End

Jeremy M. Lazarus | 6/8/2023, 6 p.m.
A new First Police Precinct will be built on the parking lot of the Richmond City Justice Center in the ...

A new First Police Precinct will be built on the parking lot of the Richmond City Justice Center in the 6th Council District, according to information shared with City Council this week.

The city plans to invest more than $26 million to build the replacement for the current East End precinct, now located at 2501 Q St. in the 7th Council District, documents provided to the council state.

Along with a new building, the project will include a parking deck to accommodate the precinct’s vehicles and those of the Sheriff’s Office, the documents show.

The current precinct building, one of four in Richmond, has stood at the corner of Q and 25th St. for more than 30 years, the document states, would be demolished after the new building opens.

The council is expected to vote next Monday, June 12, to allow the city to hire a company to design and build the police precinct rather than following the traditional process of hiring an architect and then bidding for a general contractor to construct it.

Council has been told that using this process would save time and money due to the continuing inflation in building costs. The project is expected to be complete in 2025.

Council also plans to pass a second resolution next Monday to allow the city to use the same expedited process to build a replacement for Fire Station 21 in South Side.

The new station, which could cost nearly $26 million, according to the accompanying explanatory document, would rise at the old station’s current location, 2505 Richmond Highway. The work is expected to be completed by December 2024, the document states.

Demolition at both sites could begin in September, if all goes well, according to the documents.

Funding for both projects was included in the 2023-24 capital budget that the council previously approved.