FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – Site work on a nearly five million dollar Emergency Operations Center is underway in Florence County.
Florence County Council approved $4.9 million dollars to build the center in 2014. The center is being built next to the Florence County Detention Center and it is being paid for by Florence County’s penny sales tax.
Florence County Emergency Management Director Dusty Owens says bringing their 911 central dispatch department and emergency management department into one building will cut down response times.
Owens says the discussion on a new center has been several years in the making because both departments have outgrown the current building they are in.
“Space is always a problem in our current facility because it was not designed with the idea of being an emergency operations center, so we kind of had to modify existing space. This is going to be a building that was designed from the ground up for that purpose,” explained Owens.
The director says the new building will have four times the space of the old facility. In addition, he says it will offer more space needed to put in additional systems and equipment used to monitor and respond to disasters.
“It’s meeting a need that has been identified for a number of years so we are really excited about the opportunity to get into the facility, not only because it’ll give us a new and better place to operate out of but it is going to enhance the ability to provide services during a disaster when they’re most needed,” Owens added.
Emergency management officials expect to be in full operation inside the new center by November.
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