NASHVILLE, TN — Mayor Megan Barry was joined by Chief Steve Anderson, other Metro officials and community leaders to break ground and celebrate the start of construction on the new Metro Nashville Police Administrative Headquarters and Family Justice Center at the site of a former car dealership at 600 Murfreesboro Pike.
“Each of these buildings will provide essential services to help keep our community safe and ensure that victims get the help and resources they deserve,” said Mayor Barry. “These facilities will be pedestrian-friendly, designed to fit within Nashville-Next standards, and will help to revitalize this area in a way that we hope will promote jobs and make for a more livable neighborhood.”
The buildings, which were designed by Hastings Architecture Associates, will incorporate brick, concrete, glass, and wood materials into the facades. The project is overseen by the Department of General Services, and will be built by Messer Construction. Once completed, the facilities will be LEED Silver certified and incorporate innovative methods of site water management, including Bio Swale Retention – making them more environmentally friendly and energy efficient.
“With today’s ground-breaking, we have begun to establish the foundation that will support Nashville’s public safety for decades to come,” Chief Steve Anderson said. “The new headquarters and Family Justice Center project will keep Nashville on the cutting edge of services to victims, and will serve as a reminder that we are very serious about protecting all of Nashville.”
The 61,000-square-foot, three-story, administrative headquarters will serve as the face for the Metro Police Department, designed to be a welcoming place that connects the neighborhood and is a hub of public service. In addition to housing administrative and certain investigative functions of the department, there will also be a data center in the new facility.
Mayor Barry included $28 million in the FY2016-17 Capital Spending Plan to construct the facility, which was approved by the Metro Council earlier this year. “The new Family Jus- tice Center, once completed, will be a critical resource for domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse victims needing a refuge on their path to becoming survivors,” said Diane Lance, Department Head for the Metro Office of Family Safety. “The design of the facility will help to create a welcoming atmosphere for those who are experiencing trauma in their lives, serving as a place of community for those who need our support.”
The Family Justice Center, which will be 44,000 square feet and two stories tall, has been designed to serve as a resource for those in need. Located within the FJC will be Metro’s Office of Family Safety, police Domestic Violence Division counselors, Nashville Children’s Alliance, and components of the District Attorney’s Office and Tennessee Department of Children Services. In 2015, for- mer Mayor Karl Dean held a groundbreaking ceremony for the site following the passage of his Capital Spending Plan, which included $20 million for the project.
In January, Mayor Barry held a community meeting hosted by Trevecca Nazarene University that showed strong community support for locating the new MNPD Headquarters at the Murfreesboro Pike location. The facilities are projected to be completed by Spring of 2018.
