After yearslong battle, work has begun on new headquarters for Philly’s 22nd Police District

Have a question about Philly’s neighborhoods or the systems that shape them? PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send us a story idea you think we should cover.

Construction is underway on a new home for the 22nd District of the Philadelphia Police Department, following a yearslong dispute over what should occupy the block-long site.

The North Central Public Safety Building will sit at 21st and Diamond streets in North Philadelphia. The $40 million facility will house a new police station for the district and a Police Athletic League (PAL) center, which will include a full-size gymnasium, classrooms and a shared community room for neighborhood events and programs.

The project, which covers a group of vacant lots along Diamond Street, will also bring to the corridor new parks and green space, public parking facilities and a fueling station for city vehicles.

Work is expected to wrap up in the fall of 2027.

“We were able to provide a better product here by working together with the communities, with the architects, with the key stakeholders, to be able to deliver this project in a way that meets the needs of the residents that we’re serving,” said Pedro Pinto, deputy director of project management for the city’s Capital Program Office.

How did this plan come about?

This is the second time the city has tried building a new station for the 22nd District, an effort rooted in a 2017 master plan that identified its current building on 17th Street as the department’s worst. The city also wanted a more centrally located station, arguing it would improve response times in the district, consistently one of the department’s busiest.

But in 2020, amid fierce community opposition and protests over the killing of George Floyd, the Philadelphia Historical Commission voted against a proposal at the same location that didn’t include the PAL center, derailing the development.

Commissioners said the city hadn’t sufficiently engaged the public on the proposal, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. They also agreed with residents that the project wasn’t a good fit for the residential neighborhood.

Three years later, the commission reversed itself and approved a new proposal, which called for the PAL center and other public amenities. The plan, a priority of former City Council President Darrell Clarke, also garnered widespread support from the registered community organization for the area.

Construction was expected to start last summer but was delayed to incorporate community feedback on the project’s design.

“We adjusted some of the PAL spaces and some of the exterior spaces to be able to further reflect the needs of the community,” Pinto said.

Who is against the plan?

The development still has its detractors, however.

While some residents have said the project will be a much-needed community resource, others say the modern complex should not be built within the Diamond Street Historic District. Established in 1986, the roughly mile-long district runs between Broad and Van Pelt streets and features architecturally significant rowhouses and churches dating back to the late 19th century.

Other neighbors have zeroed in on the optics of building a new station in a community that they say desperately needs more affordable housing.

“When you have people who have been redlined, disrespected and discriminated against and treated as trash, you’re just giving them another excuse not to trust the city. Not just the police, but the process,” said block captain Gail Loney, who lives around the corner from the site.

In November 2023, the proposal survived a resident-led challenge to the historical commission’s vote approving the city’s proposal. That month, a city panel rejected the appeal, ruling that the commission had properly followed its rules and procedures while deciding the fate of the project.

Less than two months later, the Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the use variances needed to build the North Central Public Safety Building, paving the way for construction to start.

A groundbreaking ceremony is expected in July.