Dallas To Vote On $29M Police Academy Construction Package As Funding Gap Remains

Dallas, Texas, USA – March 20, 2022: Bronze metal City of Dallas seal on the concrete wall beside the steps to City hall Plaza. Dallas is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. | Image by JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

The Dallas City Council will vote Wednesday on a $29.03 million construction package for the new Dallas Police Department Law Enforcement Training Center at UNT Dallas, moving the long-planned academy toward construction as the project still faces an $82 million funding gap.

Agenda Item 55 would authorize Supplemental Agreement No. 1 with Swinerton Builders and accept the first guaranteed maximum price package for the training center at 7300 University Hills Blvd. The action includes up to $26.39 million in construction services and a $2.64 million owner contingency, for a total authorization of $29.03 million.

The vote would increase Swinerton’s total contract authorization from $150,000 to $29.18 million. Dallas would pay for the package from the Public Safety Facilities Fund of the voter-approved 2024 General Obligation Bond Program. The city placed Item 55 on Wednesday’s consent agenda.

Construction slated for September

The city plans to bring multiple guaranteed maximum price packages to council as the project team completes construction documents. The current agenda lists an estimated construction budget of $185 million and schedules construction to begin in September 2026 and finish in June 2028. A June project update set a September 3 groundbreaking.

Dallas voters approved $90 million for public safety facilities in May 2024, including $50 million specifically for the UNT Dallas training center. The June city memo said the academy had secured $106.5 million in committed funding, including $50 million from the 2024 bond, $25 million in state grants and $31.5 million in private commitments.

The Dallas Express previously reported that DPD officials said the academy will expand training capacity and provide larger spaces for basic and in-service training, reality-based scenarios and new recruits.

City identifies $82 million funding gap

Wednesday’s agenda lists a $185 million estimated construction budget. City officials put the training center’s updated total cost at about $227 million and identified an $82 million funding shortfall during the June 10 City Council briefing.

The city’s funding plan includes a $70 million private fundraising goal. As of June 8, Dallas reported $31.5 million in committed private funding and $106.5 million in total committed funding.

That gap could go before voters.

In a separate vote Wednesday, the council will consider calling a November 3 special election on a $960 million bond package. The proposed public safety proposition includes gap financing for the UNT Dallas academy, with city officials identifying an additional $82 million for the facility during their June 10 briefing.

The two actions would put the same project before council twice on the same day: once to authorize roughly $29 million in construction work using previously approved bond funding, and again to decide whether to ask voters to authorize a broader public safety bond proposition that city officials have said includes $82 million in additional academy funding.

The City Council meeting begins at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Dallas City Hall.