A version of the following article appeared in the April 22, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
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More details on the Matthews facility, said to be among the most sophisticated in the country: drone training, burn buildings, Charlotte-like streets with cul-de-sacs
A 23-acre section of the 37-acre complex will have buildings and streets intended to replicate Charlotte-area urban landscapes to train police, fire and medical responders. There will be mock townhouses, drive-thrus and other buildings, as well as classroom space and an indoor firing range. (Rendering courtesy of Central Piedmont Community College)
by Tony Mecia
Plans are taking shape for a state-of-the-art public safety training center in Matthews — a 37-acre complex that Central Piedmont Community College says will be among the biggest and most modern in the country.
After the $118M project at Central Piedmont’s Levine Campus in Matthews was announced in 2024, activists denounced it and dubbed it “Cop City,” a reference to a controversial police training center in Atlanta that was the subject of protests.
But as plans progress, with the land cleared and construction expected to start within months toward a 2028 completion, college officials say it will serve a wide range of public safety employees — police, fire, medical — and fits squarely within the college’s mission of training the workforce of the future.
In a recent interview, college officials said the facility, which they call the Community Lifeline initiative, will have modern touches, including:
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