An $11.2 million construction project near the Pierce County Annex is nearing completion to provide Pierce County, City of Tacoma and neighboring jurisdictions a state-of-the-art Regional Emergency Operations Center. The new facility at 2501 S. 35th St., which is scheduled for opening in March, will replace the County-City Building basement office space that has served as the county EOC for decades.
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 EOC in the CCB basement is housed in a 2,700 square foot office suite. During emergencies, all 10 staff offices must be converted for EOC staff. It can reasonably handle about 25 people, but sometimes contains 50 to 75 people during an emergency activation. The noise level makes it difficult to operate, and the environmental systems cannot effectively handle the overcrowded situation.
The basement location means that the EOC could be put out of commission with a single broken water line on any floor (as happened in 1992). There is no room to expand within the basement, and toilet and kitchen facilities are insufficient to sustain operations. Following the 6.8 magnitude Nisqually Earthquake in February 2001, the CCB was evacuated due to visible damage and was not reoccupied until engineers completed an inspection later that day. EOC staff remained in the building to operate the center, while most other employees evacuated. The new EOC is being built to exceed earthquake building code standards.
In addition to replacing a highly vulnerable and inadequate EOC, another major benefit of the new center is the installation and hardening of vital voice and data communications systems that will enhance the county’s ability to respond and restore vital services that might be interrupted in a disaster. The facility will feature the latest in high-tech systems, including a host of 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 being engineered to exceed seismic building codes. The new EOC will have a pair of stand-by, diesel generators capable of sustaining full 24/7 operation of the EOC for at least 15 days.
The new EOC will occupy 12,000 square feet of space and be equipped to house and provide a secure and safe environment for 125 EOC staff and liaisons per shift. The project also includes renovation of warehouse space totaling 11,800 square feet for Washington Task Force #1, Urban Search and Rescue equipment storage. The 2501 Building renovation will provide an additional 56,451 square feet of space for Sheriff’s property storage, General Services records archive storage and the Auditor’s Election Center at an additional $6.6 million cost, according to Construction Project Manager Steve Burke.
Project construction commenced in February 2007 and is in the final stages. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is being planned for April. Pease Construction Inc., Lakewood, is the contractor. Hewitt Architects, Seattle, designed the EOC space, and the 2501 renovation designer is Gittens Architects, Tacoma.