HOUSTON — Houston city leaders officially broke ground Thursday on a new home for the Houston Police Department’s South Central Patrol Station, a project the city says will provide more space for officers and improved police service to several central Houston neighborhoods.
According to the City of Houston, Mayor John Whitmire joined HPD Chief J. Noe Diaz Jr., Council Member Joaquin Martinez, and HPD officers at the ceremony held at 1450 South Lockwood Drive. The project will transform the former E.B. Cape Learning & Development Center into the new South Central Patrol Station, which serves neighborhoods including East Downtown (EaDo), the Texas Medical Center, Third Ward, and surrounding communities.
According to Chief Diaz, the refurbished facility will expand from about 20,000 square feet to 28,000 square feet, giving the department more space to accommodate additional officers and community resources.
“The facility is growing to become more accessible to the community,” Whitmire said in remarks at the ceremony, adding that the expanded footprint will allow the department to welcome more officers into the division and provide additional resources for area residents.
According to Diaz, the relocation is tied to the Texas Department of Transportation’s North Houston Highway Improvement Project, which has affected the current South Central Patrol Station site.
Whitmire said the new station is part of a broader effort to strengthen Houston public safety. “We won’t stop with the opening of this new site,” Whitmire said. “We need more cars, bulletproof vests, people with language skills.”
Which neighborhoods the station serves
The South Central Patrol Division serves District 10 of the Houston Police Department, which covers a large area of central Houston. Landmarks and neighborhoods within the division’s coverage area include the University of Houston main campus, Texas Southern University, Rice University, the Texas Medical Center, the Houston Ship Channel, Hermann Park, the Houston Zoo, Emancipation Park, the Consulate General of Mexico, Shell Energy Stadium, and 16 museums. That’s several hundred thousand residents plus millions of visitors moving through some of the city’s most heavily-trafficked cultural, educational, and medical spaces every year.
Construction timeline
According to the City of Houston, the new station is currently slated for completion in the fall of 2027. City officials at the groundbreaking did not announce a specific opening date. The project follows the recent opening of HPD’s newly renovated Central Patrol Station at 1217 Morin Place in July 2025, a $40 million project Diaz has described as a model for future station renovations across the department.
Sources: City of Houston; Houston Police Department; Click2Houston reporting from the groundbreaking ceremony
