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Aurora releases $1.5 billion public-safety facilities master plan, targets 10-year priorities
Summary
City staff presented a 25-year Public Safety Facilities Master Plan that inventories aging police, fire and 9-1-1 facilities, estimates an unconstrained need of about $1.5 billion and identifies a 10-year project tier city leaders may take to voters.
The Aurora City Council study session on June 9, 2025 heard a draft Public Safety Facilities Master Plan that inventories deficiencies across Aurora Fire Rescue, Aurora Police Department and Aurora 911 and lays out a 25‑year, unconstrained capital need of roughly $1,500,000,000.
Deputy City Manager Laura Perry said the plan, developed with consultant Roth Sheppard, reviews more than 30 facilities and projects short‑, mid‑ and long‑term needs. She said the study is intended to give the city “a 25 year strategic plan and framework to guide a road map for capital planning and financial support.”
The plan identifies five immediate themes: aging buildings (many more than 30 years old), operational and space constraints that limit training and specialized functions, deferred maintenance, new technology needs and the impact of city population growth on response times. Fire Chief Alec Otten told council that Aurora currently operates 17 stations and that some east and southeast areas are experiencing travel times that exceed NFPA benchmarks. Otten said several stations are at or past midlife: “We have stations that span everywhere from 4 to 50 years old with the average age of 26,” and noted that five stations are close to or over 50 years old.
Police Chief Todd Chamberlain described aging police facilities and scattered property-and-evidence storage. He said some district locations were converted from other uses and are not purpose-built police stations, and recommended a new northern patrol district, consolidation of special-operations units, and modernization of headquarters and evidence facilities to reduce operational risk and litigation exposure.
Aurora 911 Director Tina Boneta outlined plans to create a centralized “real-time operations” or real-time operations center that could house Aurora 911, a future 311 program, the police real-time crime center, traffic operations and a unified command facility. Boneta said the center (phase 1) is currently scoped at roughly $119–120 million plus land acquisition for about 120,000 square feet, and stressed the need to modernize IT infrastructure to support cloud-native, multimedia and text-to-911 traffic.
Staff characterized the $1.5 billion figure as an unconstrained total across 10-, 15- and 25‑year horizons. Laura Perry and chiefs said the city will “nest” multiple funding sources — impact fees, grants, capital funds and potential voter-approved bonds — rather than rely on a single funding mechanism. Perry said the infrastructure task force will use the plan to prepare potential ballot measures and public outreach focusing first on the 10‑year tier.
Council members asked how the plan would be prioritized to voters. Perry said the immediate focus would be the 10‑year window and that impact fees would be combined with other sources so construction can occur before full buildout of new development’s fee receipts. Several council members emphasized the need for clear public information if items are placed on a ballot. The presentation was informational; no binding budget or bond decision was made at the session.
The master plan will be one of several capital studies staff use with the infrastructure task force in coming months to refine project lists and funding strategies for potential voter consideration.
