New Headquarters Will Provide World-Class Public Safety Services
The City of Atlanta recently broke ground on a joint police and fire headquarters that will become a best-in-class public safety and judicial services center.
The new headquarters – located between Peachtree and Pryor streets at Garnett Street – will serve as a joint administrative hub for the Atlanta Police Department (APD) and the Atlanta Fire Rescue (AFR) Department. The new facility will join the City’s Public Safety and Judicial Complex, which includes the Lenwood A. Jackson, Sr. Judicial Center (formerly the Municipal Court of Atlanta) and the City Corrections Center.
“This marks an important milestone in our efforts to improve the quality of our public safety services,” said Mayor Shirley Franklin. “Atlanta needs a best-in-class facility if we are going to provide best-in-class services.”
In addition to housing police, fire and rescue personnel, the new headquarters will include a joint operations center and media room for police and fire personnel, armory and a fitness center. An Atlanta police and fire memorial is also being planned for the plaza.
When it is complete in August 2008, the five-story building will be approximately 165,000 sq. ft. The new facility will be built in accordance with the City’s Greener Atlanta Initiatives and constructed to LEED Silver standards. Design and construction is being completed by the joint venture team of Turner Construction, H.J. Russell & Co. and OLH Inc.
The move to the new headquarters will allow police and fire personnel to vacate City Hall East, which will soon be redeveloped into a live-work-play community. Most of the Atlanta police, fire and rescue workers will be housed in the new headquarters. Additional public safety personnel from City Hall East will relocate to a renovated Public Safety Annex, located at 3493 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, and a separate 9-1-1 facility.
Mayor Shirley Franklin (center) joins City public safety officials, Atlanta City Council members, contractors and Atlanta business and community leaders to break ground on a new best-in-class public safety headquarters
Atlanta recently broke ground on a new best-in-class public safety headquarters. The new headquarters will serve as a joint administrative hub for Atlanta police, firefighters and rescue workers. |
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Mayor Joins Coalition to Announce Foreclosure Prevention Program
Mayor Shirley Franklin recently joined a coalition of national and local government and civic organizations to announce the City of Atlanta’s partnership in the HOPE foreclosure prevention program.
In 2006, Georgia had one of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates. The metro Atlanta area ranked second among the top 100 metropolitan areas for home foreclosures. (For more information on Georgia foreclosures, visit www.realtytrac.com
To address the problem, metro area organizations partnered to create HOPE and provide free counseling to Georgia homeowners through its toll-free hotline – 1.888.995.4673 (HOPE). The hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is available in English and Spanish.
In addition to the hotline, HOPE will launch a two-month awareness and education campaign. The campaign will focus on metro Atlanta communities that have been most impacted by foreclosures.
“Throughout my career as mayor I have made it my mission to work for an Atlanta where everyone can live,” said Mayor Shirley Franklin. “The City is committed to identifying ways to prevent foreclosure and it begins with making sure homeowners know about the 888-995-HOPE hotline and options that can save their homes.”
For more information about the HOPE program, call 1-888-995-4673 (HOPE).
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Community Courts Host Annual Restoration of Hope Fundraiser
This morning, the Restorative Justice Center, a nonprofit organization established in 2004 to raise awareness of and funds for the Community Court division of the Municipal Court of Atlanta, hosted its second annual Restoration of Hope breakfast.
The breakfast honored recently retired City Corrections Chief Tom Pocock for his support of Community Court alternative sentencing programs. Attendees included City of Atlanta representatives, Municipal Court judges, Atlanta public safety personnel and civic and community leaders.
The Community Court’s alternative sentencing programs are based on collaborations between local businesses, nonprofit service and treatment agencies, neighborhood associations and faith groups. The programs use non-traditional sentencing to change the behavior of offenders and restore communities.
Alternative sentencing programs include “Women for Women,” which helps women currently serving time in the City Corrections Center to overcome addiction. The Women for Women program was recently re-instated after closing briefly due to funding shortages. The Restorative Justice Board is currently seeking private donations to expand and enhance the alternative sentencing programs.
“We are delighted that so many came to hear about the benefits of problem-solving courts. We need many to join with us to make sure these effective programs thrive,” said Vanessa Hickey-Gales, president of the Restorative Justice Center board.
For more information about the Restorative Justice Center, or to donate funds, call 404.588.5999.
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Residents Encouraged to Participate in BeltLine Development
As the BeltLine project gains momentum throughout Atlanta and the nation, the City encourages residents and stakeholders to participate in its development by attending ongoing BeltLine public input meetings.
- BeltLine Public Information Forums Quarterly update meetings on the BeltLine implementation progress. Upcoming dates are February 28, April 13, August 9 and October 11. Forums begin at 6 p.m.
- BeltLine TAD Advisory Committee Upcoming meeting dates are February 20, March 27, April 24 and June 19. Meetings are held from 4-6 p.m. at the Atlanta Development Authority.
- BeltLine Affordable Housing Advisory Board This 19-member board recommends policies and goals for the roughly $242 million BeltLine affordable housing investment. The board is slated to begin work in March, 2007.
- BeltLine Study Groups The BeltLine Public Participation Framework legislation provides for the formation of five (5) city-wide BeltLine study groups. These groups serve as the primary public involvement mechanism for BeltLine planning and implementation activities related to the geographic territory of each study group. Study groups will be formed in March 2007.
For more information about these events, call 404.614.8300 (Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.) or visit the BeltLine Partnership.
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Mayor Shirley Franklin joined Police Chief Richard Pennington and Fire Rescue Chief Dennis Ruben to celebrate Atlanta's new public safety headquarters with a groundbreaking ceremony. After being talked about for decades, the facility is being built in downtown Atlanta – adjacent to the Municipal Court and near City Hall. Click here to go to Video On Demand (VOD) webpage where you can watch the groundbreaking.
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Rave Reviews!
- The Department of Watershed Management (DWM) has opened a customer service call center to provide quality service to the City’s water customers. All customer calls – from leak reports to questions about bills – will now be funneled to the call center. The new center is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week. To contact the new center, call 404.658.6500.
Mayor Shirley Franklin observes Sharang Sims at work in the recently established Watershed Management customer service call center. The new call center will address all customer calls – from leak reports to questions about bills. |
- Last week, Mayor Shirley Franklin accepted an invitation to serve on the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) for a three-year period beginning January 1, 2007-December 31, 2009. UNITAR is an independent institution established within the framework of the United Nations. Its goal is to enhance the effectiveness of the organization in achieving its major objectives, specifically the maintenance of peace and security and the promotion of economic and social development. Said Mayor Franklin: “Because of our work with CIFAL Atlanta (International Training Center for Local Authorities), I understand the necessity of sharing best practices globally and I look forward to representing the City of Atlanta in this capacity.”
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Upcoming Events & Volunteer Opportunities
- The Atlanta Police Department (APD) and Atlanta Fire Rescue (AFR) will host the annual Badges for Life Blood Drive competition on Monday, February 19. The drive is a competition between Atlanta police and fire. Atlanta police will host their blood drive in the Lobby Entrance at City Hall East from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.; AFR will host their blood drive at the Atlanta Fire Academy, 407 Ashwood Avenue, from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. This year’s drive is dedicated to the memory of firefighter Steve Solomon, who passed away last year. The general public – including other metro Atlanta police and fire departments – are invited to participate. For more information contact APD at 404.853.7780 or AFR at 404.853.7004.
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Job Announcements
With the City of Atlanta’s online application system, you are able to create an account and select a Username and Password and then log in to your account.
After your account has been established, you can create an application by clicking on the “Build Job Application” link. Once your application is completed, it will be stored in the system and can be used to apply for future job openings. To get started by viewing current open positions, click here.
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Weekly Features
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