TULSA, Okla. — The city has officially closed on the property that will serve as Tulsa’s first Public Safety Complex.

It has been almost more than a year since a multi-agency headquarters was proposed. Mayor GT Bynum explained that this is a situation where sometimes good things take time.

Bynum confirmed an agreement had been reached ‘in principle’ on the building for more than a year.

2 News wanted to know what was taking so long?

“The duration of this was that you had a number of different investment groups that all owned shares of this building,” the mayor said. “Because we had a really good deal on this, they had to go up the chain of command in each of these investment groups to get their approval, and it took about a year to complete.”

The $25.5 million sale was funded by Improve Our Tulsa tax revenues, which generated $45 million for the city’s frontline workers.

But Bynum said they’ve been eyeing this area for a while. He believes it is a necessary investment.

“When we saw the conditions in which our first responders were asked to work in their current buildings for years, we were embarrassed that the city allowed it to get to this point, and we want to fix it.”

Watch 2 News’ tour of space.

New Public Safety Complex tour

They were left with approximately $19.5 million due to the deal they were able to obtain on 288,000 square feet of space. These dollars will be used to renovate the space to meet the department’s needs.

They will also build a separate garage for fire truck and patrol car maintenance.

Both police Chief Dennis Larsen and Fire Chief Michael Baker spoke of the need for improvements to their ruined buildings.

“We also work at what is the Tulsa Police training center,” Chief Baker said. “It was built in the ’70s and our offices were in disrepair. As the mayor said, when water is an issue we have flood concerns, we have safety concerns.”

But these concerns will soon be behind them all.

Although it has been left in what everyone calls a ‘perfect’ condition, work begins immediately to renovate the building to suit the needs of each department.

A slow transition will begin after the beginning of 2025.

“Bringing all of these effective resources under one roof, combining them into this new complex is an investment in Tulsa’s future public safety, an investment that will yield great returns and cannot be overstated,” Chief Larsen said.

Although it will take time, Bynum expects all departments to move out of their old buildings and into the new Public Safety Complex by the end of 2026.

Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere –