Plano advances $5.6 million design for new police training center

Plano has taken the first major step toward rebuilding its police training center, approving a $5.6 million design contract that will shape how officers train for emergency driving, tactical response and firearms use in a city still growing around them.

The Plano City Council backed Brinkley Sargent Wiginton Architects for the work during its May 11 meeting. The contract covers design for a new training center that city documents say is meant to modernize the campus and consolidate key functions into one purpose-built location. Planned features include an emergency vehicle operations course concrete pad, a classroom for driving instruction, a tactical training facility and a 25-lane indoor firing range.

The project is not coming out of nowhere. Plano voters approved Proposition C on May 3, 2025, authorizing $51 million for a rebuilt Police Training Center as part of the city’s $647.91 million bond package. City materials say the current center, at 4912 14th St., was built in 1990 and has never been renovated. Master planning found the department needs about 70% more space, along with major renovations to the remaining space.

That need has become more visible as the department has grown. A city presentation cited by Community Impact showed Plano Police Department staffing increased from 475 officers and employees in 2003 to 618 by late 2024. The existing training center already includes an outdoor driving track for emergency-vehicle and pursuit training, plus an indoor and outdoor firing range with 12 indoor lanes and three outdoor lanes. City leaders are now looking to replace that aging setup with a larger, more specialized campus.

Public safety also carried political weight heading into the bond election. City documents say it ranked as the community’s second-highest priority in the 2022 Plano Citizen Survey, a signal that residents were already focused on police readiness, response quality and long-term capacity.

The design contract is one piece of a broader city push to replace older public-safety facilities. In December 2025, Plano also awarded a $14.5 million design contract for a new public safety campus at West Park Boulevard and Alma Drive that will consolidate police, fire and emergency operations. Together, the projects show Plano investing in facilities that can keep pace with staffing growth and city expansion rather than stretching a 35-year-old training site past its limits.

For taxpayers, the question now is not just how much concrete and square footage the city adds, but whether the new center improves preparedness, sharpens response and helps Plano recruit and retain officers for the long haul.