How plans kept growing for Broward sheriff’s new training center. Here’s what’s expected.

Four years after the Broward Sheriff’s Office celebrated breaking ground on a new training center, the facility is set to soon open — bigger and more expensive than originally planned.

And now, additional plans are afoot for a new stage of construction for another sheriff’s facility, which could require tens of millions of dollars more, county officials say.

The new training center — formally known as the Research, Development and Training Center — is located behind the Broward Sheriff’s Office headquarters at 2601 W. Broward Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. It originally was supposed to cost about $34 million, but costs nearly doubled.

The new and current design is a separate seven-story parking garage next to a four-story training center, “which also includes the capability to research and develop a variety of programs and initiatives related to public safety and employee wellness,” according to Veda Coleman-Wright, a sheriff’s spokeswoman. “The current design is more adequate for BSO’s needs.”

The original plan had called for a seven-story building with five floors for a parking garage and two floors for a training center that included a parking garage at a combined 88,000 square feet. But the cost continued to go up as the project got bigger, now with a training center alone at 104,000 square feet, along with a separate garage encompassing 245,000 square feet.

According to a statement by the construction firm, the facility will have administrative offices, a fitness center, a 100-seat auditorium, classrooms and training rooms, fire-rescue simulation labs, a rappel tower, indoor firearm ranges, “and all necessary support spaces to house the BSO Training Division’s administrative offices.”

At the groundbreaking on Dec. 19, 2019, Sheriff Gregory Tony pointed to the mass shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018 and at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in 2017 as being partly responsible for the new training center.

“In order for us to sustain that high level of training and response that this community deserves and expects, this training center must go up,” Tony said at the December 2019 groundbreaking.

There also will be a Marjory Stoneman Douglas Memorial Lobby that will honor the 17 students and staff killed at the Parkland high school, intended to serve as a daily reminder of the valued importance of training and preparedness.

As time went by, the estimated price tag continued to rise.

County records show the request from the Sheriff’s Office for more money came in pieces, millions at a time, such as jumping from nearly $33.2 million to nearly $45 million in 2020.

To date, the commission has approved almost $54.7 million for the project.

At the County Commission meeting on Jan. 23, county leaders are expected to consider adding another $6.1 million to finish the work so the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t have to find savings elsewhere. Those remaining funds are due after the work is done, said Michael Ruiz, the county’s assistant county administrator.

If the commission approves the $6.1 million “for the cost overrun, the total cumulative cost of the project … will reach $60,820,150,” Monica Cepero, county administrator, wrote commissioners in a Dec. 7 email.

It’s possible the Sheriff’s Office has used other dollars “to cover some capital project costs,” Cepero wrote. “Therefore, we are not yet certain of the project’s full cost.”

Coleman-Wright said the final price is expected to be $70 million. Her office did not comment further about where the additional funds were coming from.

Cepero wasn’t able to tell county commissioners exactly how the tab got so high: “Without a full accounting of BSO expenditures on the project, it is difficult to point to one singular cause for the cost overrun,” she wrote in the email.

But she did have some examples, such as a request in June 2023 for $7.9 million for permits, drainage, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, public art, and fire safety.

“Separately, we are aware of scope changes, the largest being the addition of a fitness area that required reinforcement of the building structure, unanticipated costs for build out, and the cost of associated equipment,” she wrote in her email.

Mandatory training

It remains unclear exactly when the new center would open. The training center is expected to open “reasonably soon,” Ruiz said, likely by the summer.

The county referred additional questions about the opening date to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, “especially since the work is ongoing.” The Sheriff’s Office did not say when the center may open.

The training center was expected to open in December, Ruiz said.

In a November email, Tony had expected the center to start being used in early January, telling staff, from colonels to captains, it would be when they would start exercising there at least three days a week. “I’m not looking to turn anyone into a pro athlete, but I require you ALL to look the part in uniform,” he wrote in the email.

He said the center will include trainers, fitness instructors, dietitians, nutritionists, a sauna, an ice bath, a physical therapy station, and more.

“In other words, it’s inexcusable and unacceptable for any member of my (command staff) to be obese, overweight, and out of shape. Each of you reflects my leadership and is obliged to maintain a positive posture of physical readiness,” he wrote.

Coleman-Wright said Sheriff Tony “leads by example” and wants to ensure “we are taking care of ourselves and are holistically fit to serve.”

At the 2019 ceremony, Tony said the training center would be open to all law enforcement agencies countywide. “They will be welcome here,” he said at the time. “Criminals don’t care about jurisdictions and nor should we.”

Another project

Now, another three-part project is being proposed for the Sheriff’s Office: a seven-story parking garage, a four-story, 62,750-square-foot building housing the 911 call center and an 11,800-square-foot on-site day care for up to 100 children of Sheriff’s Office employees.

The County Commission could discuss it as early as Jan. 23. The new complex, which could cost $86.5 million, would be built alongside the Sheriff’s headquarters and new training center in Fort Lauderdale, according to county records dated Friday.

“It’s clear we need another call center in the future,” said County Commissioner Michael Udine said.

Commissioner Lamar Fisher said he met with Tony about the idea weeks ago.

“I look forward to the vigorous discussion,” he said.

Commissioner Steve Geller met with Tony on Nov. 30 on this issue. “I’m prepared to listen,” Geller said. “But I’m not prepared to make any commitments.”

The Sheriff’s Office declined to elaborate about the new considerations.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash