Work on Roanoke’s new, $15.7 million Emergency Communications Center is expected to be complete by the end of the year, according to E911 Center Manager, Sonya Roman. Work started on the 31,000-square-foot joint facility which will house both the City of Roanoke E911 Center and Virginia811 (i.e. Miss Utility).
The partnership was born of a mutual need for better space for similar functions, dispatching professionals in response to incoming calls. The City of Roanoke 911 Center fields approximately 250,000 emergency calls annually and Virginia 811 approximately 1.25 million calls (for marking underground utilities). Both agencies operate 24-7.
The new joint center is a partnership between government and private sector industry. The City of Roanoke owns the land, paying $9.4 million of the total cost, while Virginia811 is paying $6.3 million. The cost difference is based on square footage, furniture and equipment and the city’s need to tap into a radio network and build towers. It took about three years to bring the new center to the point of a groundbreaking.
By partnering together, both the City of Roanoke 911 Center and Virginia811 were able to create shared spaces that would have been expensive to do alone. Architectural firm, Balzer and Associates designed the new facility, with Lionberger Construction as the general contractor for the project. The state of the art facility is located on a nearly 7-acre site in the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology (RCIT).
“Absolutely, we’re very excited,” about the move to the new facility, which will include a ¼ mile walking trail, outdoor covered patio and small work out area for all employees, and quiet rooms for the dispatchers to decompress after handling difficult calls said Roman. “We expect to move in during the first quarter of 2020.”
The new facility will not only benefit day-to-day operations, but it will also prove beneficial for handling major events and multi-jurisdictional incidents.
With new furnishings, the building will house dedicated training spaces for newly hired 911 dispatchers. Currently, there are 32 E911 Center employees. The new facility will also allow opportunities for future expansion. According to 911 Operations Administrator Rebekah Stephens, the expansion from its current facility will allow them nine additional dispatch positions, going from 15 current positions to 24.
911 employees will see their desires come to fruition with the new building; a huge window which will afford beautiful views of the surrounding countryside (an amenity the current facility does not have) according to Roman. Additionally, there will be secured parking for employees.
Roman said there are no plans currently in place for use of the current 911 center, which is located downtown.
About the Writer:
Rebecca Jackson is a veteran newspaper person/journalist based in Bedford County, VA. A native of California and an M.A. graduate of Arizona State University, she has a passion for pets (animals), good food/cooking, music, wine, horticulture, photography and travel.
