Tennessee Contracted With 20 Firms For $415M Law Enforcement Training Project

Image Credit: John Partipilo

By Sam Stockard [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –

Tennessee is hiring nearly 20 contractors to build a massive $415 million law enforcement training center on state property in Cockrill Bend.

State officials broke ground recently at the 600-acre site, located near Riverbend Maximum Security Institution where Death Row inmates are housed in north Nashville, joined by law enforcement leaders from across the state. 

Department of Correction and Department of Safety and Homeland Security offices will be housed there, along with training facilities for state troopers and officers, including dorms, a driving track and K-9 kennels.

“This site represents one of the best examples of inter-agency cooperation Tennessee has ever seen,” Brandon Gibson, chief operating officer for Gov. Bill Lee, said at a recent ceremony. “It represents the future of law enforcement training in Tennessee, and this site represents the governor’s and the General Assembly’s dedication to law enforcement in this state.”

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton, both members of the State Building Commission, supported the project, and Gov. Bill Lee credited their backing with helping fund it. Sexton noted it provides a “long-term vision” for the future of law enforcement training.

Lee said he started touring law enforcement training facilities statewide to check on conditions after he took office nearly five years ago.

“I remember walking through facilities where tiles were missing and 40-year-old bathrooms and bunk rooms that I wouldn’t want to stay in, and I got a vision that day, almost four and a half years ago that we needed to do something different,” Lee said.

Though the governor appeared to take responsibility for birthing the project, the Department of General Services started work on the law enforcement training center as early as 2017, if not earlier, before Lee won his first election.

Only about five state lawmakers turned out for the groundbreaking ceremony two weeks ago, none of them representing Davidson County.

Democratic state Rep. Vincent Dixie, whose district contains the property, said he received an email blast inviting lawmakers shortly after the governor’s special session on public safety ended but that it wasn’t the normal protocol and he didn’t see it and, thus, didn’t attend. The governor’s office usually calls lawmakers to invite them to a special event in their district, he noted.

Dixie has mixed emotions about the project. He wants to avoid a “Cops City” such as the center built in Atlanta, and he believes officers should go through “cultural sensitivity” as well as technical training.

“I’m not a big supporter of it because of the nature of it, but I do support our police officers in training because I believe this is going to be a combination with the FBI,” Dixie said.

Besides the law enforcement training center, the Lee Administration put $150 million into a violent crime prevention fund, $60 million toward state trooper bonuses and funding to hire 200 more highway patrolmen.

A portion of the property lies within the floodplain of the Cumberland River, but the state doesn’t plan to construct any major buildings in those areas, and other steps are being taken to minimize the impact of a potential flood, according to Parks.

Contractors lined up

The state opted to go with multiple construction managers based on efficiency and risk management. It also hired several design firms because of the size of the job and specialized components such as housing, dining, infrastructure, and various simulated training areas that required certain knowledge.
Breaking the project into “smaller sub-projects” allows the state to evaluate designers and construction managers for each section, said Michelle Sandes Parks, a spokeswoman for the Department of General Services.

The method also allows the state to bring in the contractor earlier to help with design elements such as “constructability,” obtaining materials, putting together estimates and scheduling to minimize risks on timing and costs, she said.

“In the end, there is no guarantee that a single construction manager or even the use of a different delivery method would cost the state less,” Parks said in a statement.

Kline Swinney Associates is slated to do the master planning and coordination for the entire project while EnSafe Environmental is conducting environmental studies and testing along with Smith Seckman Reid (SSRCx), which is involved in commissioning and testing.

The state is using what is called a construction manager method for the project, a situation in which the state negotiates a cost with a contractor, which then works with the designer to complete the job, taking on a bit more risk. Because of the project’s magnitude, construction managers are being used on every facet.

The construction cost is $287.8 million, but the total cost includes several other factors.

The state put $23 million in the fiscal 2021-22 budget and $355.6 million in the fiscal 2022-23 budget for the project. Another $5 million is coming out of Department of General Services operating funds and $31.5 million is coming out of a reserve fund.

The Department of General Services was unable to provide a breakdown for the amount it will be paying each contractor.

• AECOM and Barge Civil Associates will handle design for infrastructure and site work, and Environmental Abatement Inc. is doing demolition work. No construction manager has been hired for that part of the work.

• Kline Swinney Associates will design a firing range complex, and Reeves + Young was approved for construction management. The company was involved in work at the police training facility in Atlanta called Cop City, which has been under protest by groups opposed to building a large law enforcement training complex in a wooded area there.

• TMPartners is designing the training academy building, and Turner Construction is the construction management contractor for that part of the project.

• Earl Swensson Associates is designing the housing, dining and kennel building, and Hoar Construction is the construction management contractor for that part of the project.

• The Pickering Firm is doing design work for a track on which to train emergency vehicle operators. The construction management contractor hasn’t been hired.

• Anecdote Architectural Experiences will design the headquarters building, and Messer Construction will be the construction manager. 

About the Author: Sam Stockard is a veteran Tennessee reporter and editor, having written for the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, where he served as lead editor when the paper won an award for being the state’s best Sunday newspaper two years in a row. He has led the Capitol Hill bureau for The Daily Memphian. His awards include Best Single Editorial from the Tennessee Press Association. Follow Stockard on Twitter @StockardSam