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St. Louis County broke ground Wednesday on the long-awaited new police precinct building in South County.
The groundbreaking was held Oct. 19 at the site of what will be new Affton Southwest precinct at 11520 Gravois Road at what was formerly the Sappington Garden Shop. The building is funded through 2017’s Proposition P, a public safety sales tax that will fund $27.6 million to build the new precinct in South County, as well as the new North County precinct.
“St. Louis County is fortunate to have a professional and well-trained police department. Public safety is a top issue for residents and our businesses and they’ve come to expect a safe place to live, work and raise a family,” County Executive Sam Page said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “That’s why I’m standing here today with you all … for the groundbreaking of the Affton Southwest precinct.”
The Affton-Southwest precinct, Precinct 3, is in a leased space at 5030 Griffin Road due to the old precinct becoming a health and safety hazard. The precinct moved to its current temporary location in 2019, before that it was temporarily located in Crestwood. The original precinct at 9928 Gravois Road closed in 2018 due to mold.
The new precinct will be more than 15,000 square feet — triple the size of the leased space.
“(The leased space) is too small, making it impossible to safely process and hold suspects,” Page said.
Wright Construction Services is the general contractor for the project and is expected to take about 15 months to complete, with operations expected to begin out of the building in early 2024.
The South County project was in jeopardy in late 2020, with the county nearly deciding to move forward with just the North County location and put Precinct 3 on hold. The situation caused 6th District Councilman Ernie Trakas to seek and secure a deal with Page to continue the project.
Both projects exceed goals set by Page for minority and women-owned business participation, with around 50 percent participation for both. A groundbreaking ceremony for the North County precinct is slated for Nov. 2.
