Mandeville City Council members got their first glimpse of architectural drawings for a new $8 million police headquarters this week, and the early reaction was overwhelmingly positive. The project would replace the city's current police station, a 1983-era building adjacent to City Hall at 1870 U.S. 190 that officials describe as structurally unsound and unsafe for officers to occupy during storms and other emergencies.
John Kleinschmidt of New Orleans-based Waggonner & Ball Architects led the presentation to the council, according to NOLA.com. Council member Jason Zuckerman, who is also a professional architect, said the building design impressed him, and fellow council member Jill Lang agreed, calling the project a great improvement over what officers currently work with. The new headquarters will be built on the existing footprint, though a portion of the old station will remain standing for storage.
Decades of Wear Finally Catching Up
City officials say the current station has undergone several structural changes over the decades and has become what NOLA.com described as a maintenance nightmare. Plans call for the new facility to be a completely new, more modern structure featuring larger training and evidence rooms, a secure prisoner transport portal, and storm-resistant construction designed to hold up during severe weather.
The new building will also finally bring the department's scattered operations together. Mayor Clay Madden said the headquarters will unite all police functions under one roof, with dedicated space for dispatch and investigations units that currently operate out of satellite locations. Part of the old station, meanwhile, is slated for conversion into a workout area for police personnel, and the department hopes to secure donated gym equipment from a local health club that is renovating its own workout space.
Funding Split Between State and City
The roughly $8 million project will be funded mostly through the state, with Louisiana expected to cover about 75 percent of the cost — close to $6 million — while Mandeville contributes approximately $2 million locally. Act No. 4 is Louisiana's 2026 capital outlay act, according to the Louisiana State Legislature.
Mayor Madden's July 2026 annual budget message emphasized that landing the state capital outlay funding was essential to building a modern police facility without draining Mandeville's general fund reserves, according to the City of Mandeville. The city wrapped its 2026 fiscal year in August with more than $17 million in total capital outlay spending, bolstered by local sales tax revenues that came in $1.24 million above budget projections, per the Mandeville Daily.
Design Fees Grew Alongside the Project
The city has amended its architectural contract with Waggonner & Ball. In May 2026, the city council approved Resolution 26-14, adding $9,988 to cover required pre-demolition asbestos inspection, testing, and abatement design for the 1983 building — bringing total design fees to $687,024.
Construction on the new headquarters is expected to begin in February 2027 and take about 18 months, putting the facility on track to potentially open by August 2028. The department plans to keep working out of the current building throughout construction.
A Department Shaped by Tragedy and Growth
Mandeville serves as a regional law enforcement hub, hosting the headquarters for Louisiana State Police Troop L, which oversees highway safety and traffic enforcement across St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, St. Helena, and Washington parishes.
The department has also carried the weight of loss. In September 2019, Captain Vincent Liberto Jr. was killed in the line of duty — the first such fatality in the Mandeville Police Department's history — and Chief Schliem dedicated a permanent station memorial in his honor in September 2022, according to WWL-TV. Mandeville's push to modernize its police facilities fits into a broader pattern across St. Tammany Parish, where Slidell has likewise launched a major replacement project for its own aging police headquarters, expected to open in spring 2028, as reported by The Slidell Independent.
