Denver’s Auraria Campus is finally trading in its makeshift police hallway for a full-fledged safety hub, as construction crews break ground on a new Campus Safety Center that will fold police operations, student classrooms and a 24/7 study lounge into one three-story building. Campus officials say the goal is to give officers a functional home base while also adding more late-night space for students to gather. The project is slated to wrap in August 2027.
According to the campus project overview from the Auraria Higher Education Center, the facility will clock in at roughly 32,000 square feet with a price tag of about $36 million. About two-thirds of that space is reserved for campus police operations, with the rest dedicated to classrooms and a student lounge. The project page lists an anticipated construction start in April 2026 and an expected finish in August 2027. AndersonMasonDale is on board as architect, and the work is funded with State of Colorado capital construction dollars.
Auraria Campus Police Chief Jason Mollendor has described the department’s current headquarters as a cramped, repurposed 7,500-square-foot hallway that has created ongoing operational headaches. As reported by BusinessDen, the new center will double holding capacity from two to four cells, add secure bays for department vehicles and carve out dedicated locker, workout and break rooms for officers. Mollendor said the layout is meant to make everyday tasks such as interviews, evidence handling and dispatch work safer and more efficient.
Design Blends Safety With Student Space
Campus leaders stress that this is being built as a broader safety center, not just a traditional police station. The plan folds student programs and community spaces into the same footprint, so the building is not only a back-of-house facility for officers but also a place where students might actually want to linger after dark. KUNC reports that planning has included community engagement since 2021, and public-facing features could include classrooms and event rooms designed to stay open at night. Planners have also talked about incorporating sustainable design goals into the project.
Campus Context And Controversy
The Auraria Campus houses the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the Community College of Denver, serving roughly 42,000 students. Officials say a busier, more round‑the‑clock campus is driving the push for updated safety facilities, according to Denverite. At the same time, Auraria’s policing has been under a microscope after mass arrests tied to a spring 2024 encampment, with litigation over those detentions stretching into 2026. Those developments, documented in local reporting and legal filings, were detailed in protest bust blowback coverage, as per Hoodline.
Next Steps And Dispatch Upgrades
Officials say town-hall meetings and design tweaks will continue as construction moves ahead and interior plans are finalized. BusinessDen noted that Chief Mollendor also expects dispatch upgrades, including a system that would route 911 calls from cellphones on campus directly to Auraria dispatchers once the technology is in place. The idea is to shorten response times and keep campus emergency reporting under one roof.
Construction Impacts
The campus has posted a construction-impacts page outlining temporary parking lot closures and shuttle and stop changes that will affect students and staff while the building goes up. That includes plans to remove some modular buildings in 2025 and to shift shuttle stops for summer projects. Those notices will be the go-to source for day-to-day changes during the build, officials say, and the campus will continue to publish scheduling and access updates as details are finalized, according to Auraria Campus.
