Excerpts from the Chicagotribune.com:
Rendering of the Lake County Regional Operations and Communications Facility. Lake County/HANDOUT
The construction site for the Regional Operations and Communications Facility (ROC) of Lake County is behind several county buildings in Libertyville . Work started in April.
Officials responsible for the creation of the ROC officially broke ground for the $53.8 million facility on Friday. It will consolidate emergency services serving more than 600,000 residents, making them more efficient .
When complete in the summer of 2025, the 37,426-square-foot building will handle the 911 emergency calls for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office as well as any other governmental entity which wants to join.
The project was 10 years in the making, starting when the Lake County Emergency Telephone System Board and other governmental entities looked at 911 consolidation in the county.
Commonwealth Edison will be able to use the facility during power outages to more quickly restore service, and the building will be strong enough to keep functioning through natural disasters. It will be large enough for the emergency tele-communicators to work efficiently.
Along with $1 million from the federal government through an appropriation obtained with help from U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, additional money came from funds the county received from the American Rescue Plan.
The county also sold $30 million in bonds to help finance the project, along with receiving a $2 million grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Communities Foundation and $5 million from the Emergency Telephone System Board.
thanks Rob
#1 by Rob on July 9, 2023 - 1:54 PM
This new dispatch center will be under the direction of the Lake County Sherriff. This will combine Lake Zurich, Vernon Hills Mundelein, Fox Lake, Cen Com, Gurnee, I think Waukegan. Highland Park, Lake Forest, Highwood, Lake Bluff are dispatched by Glenview out of the Highland Park PD. Grayslake is dispatched by Glenview from the Glenview PD. Deerfield has their own center which dispatches for Bannockburn, Lincolnshire, Riverwoods PD.
#2 by Michael m on July 9, 2023 - 7:15 AM
If other agencies do join, I wonder what the center will be called? Will it be called LakeCom? That would make the most sense.
#3 by Michael m on July 9, 2023 - 7:13 AM
I wonder if all the departments that are dispatched by Cent-Com, Gurnee and Lake Zurich wilI eventually join. It does not make sense to build this huge of a building for only one agency.