Berrien County is entering the design phase for its new 911 and Emergency Operations Center in Buchanan.
The county purchased a building at 500 Circle Drive in Buchanan Township from American Electric Power in 2022 with the intent of making it a state of the art emergency response center, and this week county commissioners learned about the architects likely to plan it.
Berrien County Emergency Management Coordinator Rockey Adams tells us the new center will eliminate vulnerabilities faced by the current 911 Center.
“The current facilities need some updating,” Adams said. “We’re in some older buildings that are not designed to withstand some of the hazards in the community, and so we’re taking some risks when it comes to storms or heavy storms that come through. Our building’s just not designed to take that on.”
Adams says the current center can experience outages, and the new Buchanan location will be more robust and operational 24/7. Also, he says staff from the Cook nuclear power plant will have offices there so the county and the plant can better coordinate in the event of a disaster.
The county will likely hire Wold Architects and Engineers out of Palatine, Illinois to do the design and planning work over three phases.
“Ultimately, we have until June of 2027 to complete the project to totality. With that is construction, but we would love to have the design done probably mid 2025.”
Adams says the county has been awarded a $3 million federal grant to pay for construction, although it isn’t yet known if that will cover the entire cost. The project’s total cost will be determined as part of the design process now getting started.
Adams notes all emergency operations of the county will move into the new facility at the same time when it’s finished.
