Council committee approves $1.8 million master-plan study for proposed public-safety campus after weeks of public protest

Pittsburgh’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday advanced a resolution to pay up to $1.8 million for a master plan to study use of the former VA campus as a public-safety training campus, after council members added amendments intended to limit certain federal and militarized uses.

The committee voted to approve the bill as amended with one abstention. Councilwoman Deb Gross introduced the amendment, which the administration said would be reflected in the planning contract; the amendment includes clauses barring design work to plan facilities to co-locate with federal law‑enforcement or foreign security services and language directing the study to prioritize fire, EMS, public-works and volunteer emergency‑response uses.

The vote follows weeks of sustained public comment that drew scores of residents to the standing committee session to oppose a proposed campus many speakers described as a “Cop City.” Speakers called for the city to use the site for housing, emergency‑medical and disaster‑response capacity, or other community priorities rather than expanded police training facilities.

Why it matters: the master plan is the next formal deliverable required by a 2017 federal conveyance and General Services Administration process; city officials warned that missing the study deadline could jeopardize the city’s ability to retain the property. The contract approved by the committee would pay a selected architecture/engineering firm to evaluate the site’s buildings, utilities and constraints and to propose phased options and community access plans; subsequent construction costs remain separately budgeted (city materials referenced an $86 million…