The City of Ballwin officially broke ground on the new Ballwin Police Station on Monday, April 26th. The new station will be located at the southeast corner of Kehrs Mill Road and Ballpark Drive.

The current department, located at 300 Park Drive, has served the Ballwin Police Department for more than 50 years. That building was constructed in 1970, and initially housed several departments including administration, parks and recreation, municipal court, and police. 

The last major remodel to the facility took place in 1999, after the City’s administration department moved out to a separate building. 

In 2019, the City hired JEMA to conduct a third-party needs assessment to analyze the conditions of the current station and identify opportunities for enhancement. It was determined that the station was not only in need of many major repairs and updates, it was also out of compliance with ADA, life safety, and storm-shelter requirements. The current station was determined to have no storm shelter or area of refuge per building code, improper ventilation, poorly-insulated windows, failing roof repairs and blisters, cracking in foundation wall, no ADA access to lower levels, undersized prisoner processing area, unsecure parking for police vehicles, and several more issues.

To address this, JEMA presented options for remodeling the current facility as well as building an entirely new structure. In the end, the Board of Aldermen made the decision to construct a new station, as there was not a significant cost savings to do an extensive remodel to the current facility. On January 24, 2022, the Board awarded the construction of the project to Wright Construction Services, Inc.

The total cost of the project is approximately $13.6 million and is being paid for with no debt to the City. Funds for the project are coming from the City’s fund reserves and federal stimulus money.

The new station is expected to be completed by spring of 2023 and will have underground parking, updated amenities, an improved ventilation system, full ADA compliance, safer entry ways for our officers and visitors, and much more. 

We are excited to embark on this new  adventure and look forward to building a safe, modern facility to serve the current and future needs of our officers and the community.

For more information on the project, click here.