The city could build a needed Law Enforcement Training Academy alongside its present location while the academy continues to operate in an aging former elementary school.
Or it might pick undeveloped property closer to the municipal center, which would allow more flexibility and space but may cost millions more.
City staff recommended the latter option Tuesday, but members of the City Council want the costs and benefits of both explored further. They dismissed a third option on land along South Birdneck Road near General Booth Boulevard because of wetlands on the property.
A new LETA could be about 131,000 gross square feet and has an anticipated construction cost of $82 million. It’s expected to take 51 months to design and build.
“My concern is the $82 million,” Councilmember Jennifer Rouse said, asking how costs could change depending upon the site.
There’s an anticipated higher price tag to build a new LETA in the Interfacility Traffic Area, within the overflight path between Naval Air Station Oceana and Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress in Chesapeake. The city is revising a plan for the ITA, where development is constrained, but municipal uses fit in what could be a 167-acre area for the academy.
“The ITA gives you a blank drawing board so it makes it easier,” Councilmember Stacy Cummings said, “but if the cost is prohibitive versus the other two locations, that plays a big factor into what we’re doing.”
City Manager Patrick Duhaney said it probably would be less costly and quicker to build at the current site. Bringing utilities to the ITA would be a significant cost above construction alone, and there potentially could be $10 to $30 million of unknown costs there.
Keeping LETA essentially where it is has its share of challenges too. The nearly 20-acre site is limited in expansion, access and outdoor training, according to a briefing to City Council Tuesday. It’s owned by the city schools, which might want to sell the land.
Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson said the current site near a highway is “ripe” for economic development.
LETA has been at its current location since 2000, but trainees are using a building meant for children that is more than 70 years old.
“We pride ourselves as being one of the best trained agencies in the country, and we want a training facility that mirrors that,” police Lt. Adam Bernstein, the recruiting and academy director for the department, told WHRO during a visit this week.
The building has leaks and is prone to flooding. It lacks security measures and it's tough to fit technology into the structure.
Between 2019 and 2022, a range of sites for a new facility were discussed, and the city, police and Sheriff’s Office updated requirements for a new LETA in 2023.
Sheriff Rocky Holcomb told WHRO he prefers the one in the ITA, which is closer to the correctional facility and gives more options for growth.
“It’s an investment in our law enforcement here in Virginia Beach to have a quality training center that all of the deputy sheriffs and police officers can train in,” Holcomb said Tuesday.
Police Chief Paul Neudigate said the public understands the need to train law enforcement in a suitable, modern facility that can be upgraded with technology.
It’s also one of the first things people see when they join the department, which is working to attract officers.
“We just need to evolve beyond a 50-year-old elementary school,” he said.
Another option for a new Virginia Beach Law Enforcement Training Academy is to build upon land within the Interfacility Traffic Area.