Pittsburgh committee delays decision on proposed public-safety training campus after hours of public comment

Pittsburgh City Council’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee voted Wednesday to hold for two weeks a resolution that would authorize up to $1.8 million for a master plan and consultant contract on a proposed public-safety training campus at the former VA hospital site — a project opponents call “Cop City.”

The hold followed more than four hours of public comment, in which more than three dozen speakers urged council to reject the contract or insist on significant changes. Commenters said the city should prioritize housing, mental-health services and violence-prevention programs instead of expanding police training infrastructure.

The debate centered on a resolution introduced in committee that would authorize the city to contract with the firm named in the proposal — identified in committee paperwork and public testimony as Henningston, Durham & Richardson (HDR) — for master planning and design work, at a not-to-exceed amount of $1,800,000 over two years. During public comment multiple speakers alleged concerns about HDR’s business practices and said the site should be used for housing or EMS training rather than an expanded police campus.

“Why would y’all make the choices that you have made? Starting with hiring HDR,” said Fawn Walker Montgomery, a registered speaker, who said the city faces a housing crisis and that the $1.8 million planning contract would feed a much larger campus plan. “How can you sit up here and tell us we’re going to build a police training facility for over $2,000,000 but in fact people are here just yelling at y’all for cutting stop-the-violence funds?”

Several speakers asked that any master plan explicitly bar military-style or foreign military training and require public-access amenities. Regina Hendley said the land had been recommended for housing and called building a police training facility “insulting” given local housing and public-housing maintenance problems. Student Chaco Iwasa and others said training more police would not address the underlying causes of crime, including poverty, homelessness and mental-health needs.

Supporters of a broader emergency-services approach also spoke. Phoebe Cook, a volunteer first responder, urged the committee to design the campus to prioritize fire and EMS training and shared-storage space for disaster response, which she said would better fit the property’s approved emergency-management purpose.

Council members and city staff who answered committee questions described the vote to hold as a procedural step to allow time for amendments, additional briefings and clearer guardrails on the master plan. At the committee meeting the motion to hold the resolution for two weeks passed on a voice vote. The chair announced the bill will return to committee after that period for further consideration.

Committee members said they expect to return with clarifying language and proposed conditions for any contract award, including limits on permitted uses for the site and requirements for community engagement. Several council members told colleagues they want a written record explaining any exceptions if staff or the administration later recommend suppliers or proposals that deviate from scoring or procurement rubrics.

Background and context

The site in question is the former VA hospital property in the Lincoln–Leamington–Belmar area of the city. Public testimony frequently used the shorthand “Cop City” to refer to a broader master-plan proposal that has surfaced in public meetings and media coverage; the consultant contract before committee covered only planning and design services, not construction or final approval of a campus plan.

Speakers at the meeting repeatedly cited larger cost estimates for the full campus that have appeared in public discussion, including figures in the tens of millions of dollars; the committee’s resolution authorized only the planning contract discussed above, not construction funding.

What’s next

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee held the resolution for two weeks. Committee staff said they will return to the committee with proposed contract language and clarifications on scope, procurement and community engagement requirements. Council members and community groups said they will continue public meetings and advocacy during the hold period.

Votes at a glance

- Resolution to authorize master planning/design contract for the proposed public-safety training campus with Henningston, Durham & Richardson (HDR), not to exceed $1,800,000 over two years — Committee action: held for two weeks (motion to hold passed on voice vote).