Mayor Cherelle Parker and other city leaders broke ground Tuesday on the North Central Public Safety complex, moving forward a contested, years-long effort to build a new police station on Diamond Street.
The $40 million facility will incorporate a new home for the 22nd Police District and a Police Athletic League center that includes a full-size gym, classrooms and community space across more than 30,000 square feet. It’s a first-of-its-kind arrangement in Philadelphia.
“The impact this will have on this community and these young people is going to be absolutely amazing,” said Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, adding that he grew up going to a PAL center.
Parker’s team is aiming to open the building, which will be between 21st and Van Pelt streets, in the summer of 2027. PAL will occupy the eastern portion of the facility, and the PPD will operate out of the west wing.
On adjacent parcels of land, city contractors are building a fueling station for municipal vehicles; parking lots for the public and officers; and pedestrian plazas. The lots previously sat vacant for decades.
“When this facility opens, it’s going to stand as a symbol of what we can achieve when we invest holistically in the people in our neighborhoods,” Parker told a crowd at Tuesday’s ceremony.
City officials said the complex will be the first new neighborhood police station constructed from the ground up since the combined 24th/25th district headquarters opened on Whitaker Avenue more than two decades ago.
The 22nd District covers a chunk of North Philadelphia bounded by Poplar Street, Lehigh Avenue, 10th Street and the Schuylkill River, which Bethel referred to as “one of the toughest neighborhoods in America.”
“We deserve new things in North Philadelphia,” 5th District City Councilmember Jeffrey Young Jr. said. “We deserve to have these buildings.”
Former Council President Darrell Clarke, Young’s predecessor, recalled a years-old promise to replace the current 22nd District station, at 17th Street and Montgomery Avenue, after touring the facility. A city assessment found it to be among the most dilapidated PPD buildings, officials said.
“There were some challenges,” Clarke added. “When George Floyd hit, we had to put this thing on the back burner. People weren’t talking about police in a positive way.”
Concerns remain, at least among some neighbors. Judith Robinson, a longtime advocate and North Philadelphia resident, said she does not believe the complex belongs in the Diamond Street Historic District, a collection of significant churches and homes dating to the 1800s.
“It’s truly unfortunate that we didn’t have a proper vetting of this,” she told Metro. “It’s not about the police station. It’s about the process.”
Robinson, who prefers housing be built on the land, approached Parker ahead of the groundbreaking in the hopes of convincing the mayor to change the plan.
After the Philadelphia Historic Commission initially blocked the project in 2020, saying officials needed to gather additional community feedback, the design was amended to incorporate the PAL center and other amenities and received the necessary approvals.
“This vision received overwhelming support from the community,” said Deputy Managing Director Aparna Palatino, who oversees the city’s Capital Program Office. “We got 96% approval at an RCO meeting because this was built with your input.”
Ruth Birchett, founder of the neighborhood’s Heritage Community Development Corporation and a supporter of the project, was more blunt.
“We need to celebrate this,” she said. “I don’t want to hear the naysayer stuff.”
“Somebody said, Oh, it should be housing there. Go build housing,” Birchett added. “If you ain’t with us, leave us.”
