(Credit: PA.gov)
The Marquee Building will house modern classrooms and administrative offices, 300 individual cadet dormitories, a 500-seat auditorium, and a spacious cafeteria
The Pennsylvania State Police recently provided a progress report on the construction of a new Pennsylvania State Police Academy, a project to completely modernize the 64-year-old campus and ensure troopers are trained in the best possible environment for decades to come.
“Following months of site preparation, construction has begun on the most visible aspect of the project, the five-story Marquee Building overlooking East Hersheypark Drive,” said Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens, deputy commissioner of operations. “This world-class facility will serve as a reminder to all who see it that the Pennsylvania State Police is committed to providing the best and most professional police service possible to the residents of our Commonwealth.”
“This modernized facility is designed to meet the evolving needs of law enforcement training, ensuring PSP cadets are equipped with state-of-the-art resources for their critical roles in serving and protecting our communities,” said Greg Kirk, deputy secretary of Capital Programs for the Department of General Services (DGS), which is in charge of the project. “Through diligent planning and collaboration, we are transforming this site into a premier training environment that will benefit troopers and our Commonwealth for generations to come.”
The Marquee Building will house modern classrooms and administrative offices, 300 individual cadet dormitories, a 500-seat auditorium, and a spacious cafeteria. When construction of the Marquee Building is completed, the current Academy building will be demolished to make way for new training facilities.
Multiple new buildings totaling 366,000 square feet are proposed for the 146-acre site. Construction work is underway on several new buildings, including horse stables for the PSP Mounted Unit, the Bureau of Emergency and Special Operations headquarters, the central supply warehouse, and an outdoor tactical village for hosting simulations of high-risk incidents such as active shooters and hostage situations.
The Academy has remained operational throughout construction, although several structures were demolished as part of the site preparation. The entire project should be completed in 2028.
“Our current facility served us incredibly well but could not keep pace with the demands of a modern law enforcement training facility,” Bivens said. “Our new Academy ensures we're offering the absolute best environment for training new troopers, attracting the best recruits, and working in collaboration with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.”
Recruits have trained in Hershey since 1924, when the Pennsylvania State Highway Patrol secured a Cocoa Avenue property from Milton S. Hershey. When the Highway Patrol merged with the State Police in 1937, the training school remained on Cocoa Avenue for another 23 years, until the opening of the East Hersheypark Drive campus in 1960.
DGS awarded the $387.8M two-phase project to multiple prime contractors including awards to Wohlsen Construction Company, of Lancaster; Midline Mechanical, LLC, of Ephrata; JBM Mechanical, Inc of Nazareth; Phillips Brothers Electrical Contractors, Inc, of Glenmore; US Solutions, Inc, of Quakertown; and Jay R Reynolds, Inc., of Willow Street.
