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Pittsburgh public safety eyes 170-acre property for new training academies

The City of Pittsburgh may have found a new use for the old Veterans Affairs campus on Highland Drive.

Target 11 first reported on the city's interest in this property in December, and it could take several more years before the process is completed.

The campus consists of 19 buildings spread across 170 acres of land.

Public safety officials say it would make an idea spot for headquarters and various training exercises.

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"Time is long overdue for us to attempt to find an academy. For a city this size, it's surprising that we don't have a joint public safety academy,” Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said.

Back in the 1950s the public safety training academy was built on Washington Boulevard, but things have changed drastically.

Now it only serves as the fire and K9 training academy, leaving other departments to rent facilities at the cost of nearly $2 million to the city.

"It's like renting an apartment. When you're done renting the apartment, you have nothing to show for it.

Whereas we can take that money that we're using for rent and invest it back into the city,” Hissrich said.

Discussions about co-locating the safety academies began in 2015, and this July the city was approved to take over the property.

However. because it's still owned by the federal government and the VA, local leaders can't access the property.

Tomorrow city council will be voting on a non-exclusive license agreement.

“That will allow us that access that would enable us to do the due diligence necessary to complete any studies and make sure we're ready to roll as soon as we have the property in our hands,” Pittsburgh’s Senior Asset Management Analyst Peter McDevitt said.

In two weeks, public safety officials will begin exploring nearby training academies to see what they should plan for in terms of cost, time and structure.