Plans are now moving forward with a project that will see establishment of a new station for the Phoenix Police Department set to go up inside a former Fry’s Electronics store.
Located on the northwest side of the city at 3035 W. Thunderbird Road, the structure is in every way iconic. Like many of the uniquely designed Fry’s stores, this one was made to look like an Aztec temple. Built in 1999, the structure measures around 144,000 square feet and sits on a 112-acre site.
Fry’s moved out of the structure in early 2021 when the Sunnyvale, California-based chain suddenly announced that it was closing all its roughly 30 stores. The company pointed to the Covid 19 economic shutdown and “changes in the retail industry” as the primary reason for the closures.
Some three years later the City of Phoenix purchased the building.
The new station will replace the Phoenix Police Department’s current Cactus Park Precinct at 12220 N. 39th Avenue, one of eight precinct stations run by the department.
Earlier this summer members of the Phoenix City Council gave their unanimous approval to entering into a contract with Arrington Watkins Architects, also of Phoenix, to provide design services for the project.
The existing station facility was built in the mid-1980s and has long been thought to be both too small and outdated for current department needs. It previously housed offices for the Arizona Game & Fish Department.
September 1, 2026
By Garry Boulard
