On May 9, a grand opening will be held for the Tacoma-Pierce County Regional Emergency Operations Center at its new location in the Annex West, 2501 S. 35th St. Suite D in Tacoma. The public is invited to tour the new state-of-the-art facility from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., and a brief program will be held at 2:30 p.m.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Regional EOC will serve, in addition to unincorporated Pierce County, the City of Tacoma, Port of Tacoma, other cities and towns, military facilities and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. As a regional facility it will provide critical support in region-wide disasters that encompass multiple counties. “The unusual level of collaboration among local governments, the military and the Tribe combine to make this center highly cost effective to the region and the federal government,” Emergency Management Director Steve Bailey said.
Deputy Chief Jeff Jensen of the Tacoma Fire Department said the new facility’s high-tech capabilities and resources will benefit Tacoma’s citizenry. “We anticipate better response and coordination during emergencies and more timely and appropriate information,” he said.
The center features hardening of voice and data communications systems that enhances the county’s ability to respond and restore vital services that might be interrupted in a disaster. The facility offers voice and data systems such as Computer Aided Dispatch, integrated audio-visual, full-featured media briefing and broadcasting facility and fully redundant stand-by generators with uninterruptible power supply. All critical utilities, communications, and life-support systems are engineered to exceed seismic building codes, and a pair of stand-by, diesel generators are capable of sustaining 24/7 operation for at least 15 days.
Construction of the facility began in February 2007 with Pease Construction Inc., Lakewood, as the contractor. Hewitt Architects, Seattle, and Leach Mounce Architects, Ventura CA, designed the facility. The West Annex (2501 S. 35th St.) renovation designer was Gittens Architects, Tacoma. This facility replaces the County-City Building basement office space that served as the county EOC for decades.