Philly police could headline at former Inquirer building

The Philadelphia Police Department headquarters’ planned move to West Philadelphia is on hold as officials invesigate another location.

The former home of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News at Broad and Callowhill streets could be a better home for the police department than 46th and Market streets, proposed Mayor Jim Kenney.

“The building on North Broad Street is available and vacant, it’s large enough to do a bunch of things, police headquarters could move in there, a couple of districts in Center City  could move in there,” he said Tuesday.

The white building with its iconic clock tower has been empty since developer Bart Blatstein purchased the property in 2011 for a reported $21 million. His plan to develop a casino there never materialized.
 
Using the former newspaper building for police headquarters would “free up developable space in Center City, which is lucrative,” Kenney said.
 

The mayor already had ideas for the Market Street property, which the city has been working on for more than a year.

“I like kind of a health-related campus I think would serve the community as well or better than the police headquarters,” Kenney said.

Police headquarters will be moving from the “Roundhouse” at Eighth and Race streets due to an array of problems with the building. 

A decision on where it will end up could be made within a month, according to the mayor.