PPD moves into new headquarters

The Philadelphia Police Department has moved into its new location, Police Chief Eric Lyons said.

The department spent most of last Monday moving into the old Sunflower building located between Main Street and Beacon Street.

“We are up and running for the most part,” Lyons said. “We are open for business.”

Lyons said the move was largely completed last week and that they had all communications online and were fully operational by Tuesday morning. Mayor James Young said he was proud that there was no interruption of service during the move.

Lyons said this building gives the department room to grow further.

“We were pretty tightly packed into the old building,” Lyons said. “This shows how much our department has grown and how much the city has grown.”

Young said this was a “once in a lifetime” upgrade for the city’s police department.

“This is a great accomplishment,” Young said. “This represents an investment in our future and our present.”

The old police station was built in 1936 and originally housed the Post Office. It was placed on the National Registry of Historical Places in 1995.

Lyons said he was not sure what would happen to the building but noted that the department still had some older equipment stored there and that it was his understanding the city intended to continue to use the building.

Neither Lyons nor Young knew the final price tag of the move but noted that would probably be addressed at a future meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen. 

The city closed on the building in July.

The initial purchase price of the building was just over $262,000 with additional work including air conditioning, a new roof, and installing their communications equipment.

Earlier this month the city approved up to $420,000 in borrowing to cover the project.