By the end of the week, work on Lowndes County’s new Emergency Services Center will be complete.
“We’re 99 percent done,” Gary Weathers of Weathers Construction said Thursday. “We’ll be laying the floor covering Friday, and then all that’s left to be done is some work on the conference room in the old building as soon as they move everything into the new building. We expect to be finished Friday.”
Construction on the new center, located just east of the Lowndes County Courthouse on Second Avenue North, began last September.
“We hope to be completely moved in by the end of the month,” said Cindy Lawrence, the county’s emergency management director.
She, along with County Fire Coordinator Sammy Fondren, will be moving into the building over the coming weeks.
“We’re excited, obviously,” Lawrence said. “We think having more room and updated facilities will make our operations more efficient and effective.”
While the finishing touches on the 5,200-square-foot building will be made today, part of the building has been occupied for several months. E911 dispatchers have been operating there since July.
In addition to E911 operations, offices and conference rooms, the center will also be used as an emergency shelter, which might be the most unique feature of the building.
The FEMA certification on the building is what they call FEMA 361, Weathers said. FEMA 361 certification is designated for buildings designed to withstand tornadoes and hurricanes, according to the FEMA website.
“The walls are 12-inch, double-reinforced concrete and the roof is nine inches thick,” Weathers said. “The beams are 36 inches by 40 inches.”
The center features bathroom, shower and kitchen facilities, important amenities in the event of a major storm.
The county spent $1,996,780 on the project, about $400,000 more than originally planned. The added cost equipped the new center with a new communication system to replace the system E911 dispatches had been using for more than 20 years The county accepted bids in February from AT&T and Integrated Communications of Tupelo for combined $541,780 to purchase and install the new phone system, CAD system and furniture.
The funds to build the center came from interest earned on the county’s $30-million hospital trust fund.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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