Hershey, PA – The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) and Department of General Services (DGS) today celebrated a milestone in the modernization of PSP's 65-year-old training facilities. A “topping out” ceremony marked the placement of the final steel beam atop the structural frame of the Marquee Building, the centerpiece of the new Pennsylvania State Police Academy. Construction so far is on time and on budget.
“Every step of this project brings us closer to providing our cadets with a world-class training facility that meets all their needs for success,” said PSP Commissioner Colonel Christopher Paris. “The Pennsylvania State Police Academy is the nation’s best police academy, producing our country’s finest law enforcement officers. These new facilities ensure we continue to attract recruits of the highest caliber and prepare them for 21st-century policing in the best possible environment.”
"Today is an important milestone in the construction of the new PSP Academy,” DGS Secretary Reggie McNeil said. “The placement of this final steel beam signifies not only the culmination of extensive planning and precision engineering, but an enduring commitment to the highest standards of public safety and law enforcement training."
State Police command staff signed the topping-out beam and thanked the construction crews who worked through summer heat and winter cold to keep the project on schedule, connecting more than 1,900 tons of steel to support the walls and floors of the approximately 250,000-square-foot building since the groundbreaking in December 2023.
When completed, the five-story building overlooking Hersheypark Drive will house the Academy’s classrooms and administrative offices, 300 individual cadet dormitories, a 500-seat auditorium, and a large cafeteria.
PSP plans to move into the Marquee Building in the fall of 2026, marking the beginning of the next phase of the project.
The new Academy will be critical to continuing the Shapiro Administration’s work to build safer communities and to ensure law enforcement is well-trained, well-staffed, well-funded, and well-equipped. In his last two budgets, Governor Shapiro secured funding to hire over 800 new PSP troopers and recruit and train nearly 700 municipal officers. The Governor also eliminated college credit requirements for state troopers – and thanks to these efforts, in 2023, PSP saw a 258% increase in the number of applicants taking the test to become troopers.
Governor Shapiro’s 2025-26 budget proposal continues to sustainably fund PSP and includes $16 million to create four more new cadet classes – funding nearly 400 more state troopers. The new Academy will support PSP’s work to hire and train more officers to protect the safety of Pennsylvania communities.
This second phase of the Academy project involves demolishing the existing Academy to make space for new training facilities. One building will feature a 25-lane indoor shooting range, while another will serve as a physical education facility, complete with gymnasiums, a training tank, and a weight room.
Additional facilities are planned for the 146-acre Academy campus, where PSP has trained cadets since 1960. These facilities include a new headquarters for the Bureau of Emergency Operations, which is already taking shape on the western side of the campus. Tactical training villages for simulating high-risk incidents, such as active shooters and hostage situations, will provide invaluable real-world training for State Police cadets, troopers, and law enforcement partners.
Construction of new horse stables for PSP’s Mounted Unit is nearing completion. The entire project is expected to be finished in 2028.
The Academy has remained operational throughout the entire construction project, which totals 366,000 square feet of new buildings, although several old and outdated structures were demolished for site preparation.
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.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP is the design professional. Architectural illustrations are available at psp.pa.gov.