For Immediate Release: 8/11/2016 12:51 pm
Worcester, MA (August 11, 2016) - Officials from Worcester, Leicester and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on Wednesday celebrated the grand opening of the new Regional Emergency Communication and Emergency Operations Center in Worcester.
The facility houses the 911 Regional Emergency Communications Center, Worcester's Emergency Operations Center and 911 training facility and all administrative offices for the City's Emergency Communications Department and Emergency Management Division staff. The center will also serve the Town of Leicester for public safety 911 dispatch services.
The new facility will complement an investment the City is making in its emergency radio system.
"These investments in our public safety infrastructure are some of the smartest money a city can spend," said City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. "Our 911 system isn't visible to most of our residents, but it is a lifeline to our emergency responders, ensuring our police officers, firefighters and emergency medical professionals get where they're needed in time to save lives."
The Commonwealth continues to make efforts to encourage cities and towns to work together
toward regionalizing their 911 Communications Centers, and the City of Worcester was approached in early 2010 to take the lead in this effort for our area. The new communications center will allow the region to work towards this goal. The City and the Town of Leicester reached an agreement in 2014 to regionalize the town's Public Safety Answering Point in the Regional Center in Worcester.
The facility was built by JJ Cardosi, Inc. The project was funded by the City of Worcester, with help from a $1.6 million Regional Public Safety Answering Point Development Grant, awarded in 2010, and more than $600,000 in 2015 by the State 911 Department. This project also qualifies for the current Emergency Management Preparedness Grant funds, of which $130,000 has been allocated with no required match.
The facility's opening triggers an estimated $318,238 in additional support funding, creates multiple system redundancy and allows space for future expansion when the state requires the City's 911 center to accept all wireless 911 calls directly in the near future; capacity which the City does not currently have. Moving operations to this one combined facility frees up much needed space in the Worcester Police Headquarters building, Worcester Fire Dept training building and the City's Parks Offices on Skyline Drive.
The City's current radio system, purchased 25 years ago, is no longer supported by its manufacturer. The new system, which includes three new transmitter sites, new dispatch console operator positions, in our primary and back up dispatch centers, and nearly 2,000 mobile and portable radios, was also deployed into full service this week.
This critical piece of emergency infrastructure will help ensure Worcester's police, fire and other emergency responders and public works personnel have the best tools possible to keep residents safe.
"The completion of the 911 RECC facility and the citywide radio system deployment and cutover this week are historical moments in our department's history," said the City's Director of Emergency Communications & Emergency Management, Richard H. Fiske, III. "As we grow into our new space, and move forward on our regionalization efforts and more efficient operation of the City's EOC and Emergency Management Divisions, our staff will have at their disposal the tools and technology necessary to serve the residents, business and visitors of our respective cities and towns at the level that they have come to expect from us, and be a flagship example for others to follow."
