NEW ORLEANS – The Orleans Levee District Police celebrated a major groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday morning at their new headquarters in Gentilly.
The new state of the art police complex will be built at Elysian Fields and Lakeshore Drive, just across the street from the University of New Orleans campus.
The site actually housed the Levee District police department before Hurricane Katrina, but the old building has sat vacant since then.
Local leaders, board members, and officers stood by golden shovels and construction equipment during Tuesday’s event, touting the new 10,000 square foot headquarters, which cost roughly $3 million.
The site is easily accessible and strategically located for the department.
It includes a modernized dispatch and communications center, training room, holding cell, locker rooms, and break room. It will also be secured with fencing, and there will be a storage garage for police vehicles.
“The old facility was worn down insufficient for modern policing and this has been a long time in the planning so we are glad the day is finally here,” Board President of the Flood Protection Authority East Joe Hassinger said.
The Levee District Police provide security and law enforcement along hundreds of miles of barriers that make up the flood defense system. They also work with the NOPD, JPSO & more.