Community breaks ground on new fire and police training facility

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Tuesday morning, the Wilmington community broke ground on the new $9.1 million building on the 3100 block of Hurst Street.

The Haynes/Lacewell Police and Fire Training Facility is named for two prominent African-American men that served in the Wilmington community — Sgt. Edward Haynes of the WPD and Capt. Eric Lacewell of the WFD.

“There was always concerns about stray bullets,” said Mayor Bill Saffo. “Environmental concerns about led contamination but, this is going to be an environmentally friendly facility. There won’t be any noise from it. It will be all in doors and climate controlled and we hope to have other organizations also use the facility in the future.”

The 31,000 square foot building will include classrooms, office space, simulator rooms, an indoor shooting range, and a K9 training facility.

The building is scheduled to open in Fall 2019.