GCCC and Bay County celebrate grand opening of new Public Safety/Emergency Operations Center

PANAMA CITY - Officials from Bay County and Gulf Coast Community College will officially cut the ribbon for the new joint-use Public Safety/Emergency Operations Center on April 22.

The ceremony, scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m., will take place at GCCC’s North Bay Center in Southport.

College and Bay County leaders, elected officials and members of the law enforcement and first-responder community will be on hand to witness the grand opening of this remarkable facility.

The building has been hailed as a national model of partnership between two entities since it was announced to the community in 2006.

The partnership is unprecedented because both Bay County and Gulf Coast bring different elements to the $16 million project.

EOCs have been described as empty shells that are only active during emergencies, but this one was designed to be different from the beginning.

The building will constantly be in full use with students for public safety classes, law enforcement and first responder training, as well as regular county emergency operations on a daily basis.

Construction on the 50,400 square foot facility began in April 2008 and was substantially complete by January 2010.

Employees of the 911 emergency call center have already settled in to their new home and are now coordinating all 911 call activity at the facility.

Officials working in the building also have an improved means of communication at their disposal with the 420 foot WKGC FM/AM radio tower for emergency county communications.

On the College side, instructors will move into the facility after the grand opening and begin to teach classes for the summer semester which begins May 10.

GCCC students will be trained there in a wide variety of disciplines including law enforcement programs, fire services programs and computer/technology programs.

One of the larger benefits of having classes right in the EOC is that students will be training in the very facility and the exact environment that they will eventually work in during an emergency.

The College’s North Bay Center is in a prime location as security and protection programs are planned to be created for airport safety in conjunction with the new airport.

Because the Public Safety/EOC is part of the West Bay Sector Plan, an area predicted to grow rapidly in the next decade, the joint-use facility could be developed into a premier national training center with concentrations on Homeland Security and emergency administration and management.

Public Safety/EOC Joint-Use Facility Fact Sheet:

In September of 2006, the boards of Bay County and GCCC approved an agreement to design and build a Public Safety/Emergency Operations Center joint-use facility.

Groundbreaking was held on April 17, 2008.

GCCC provided the land at no cost to Bay County. The site is 9.6 miles north of the old downtown EOC.

The project cost $15.5 million for the 50,450 square-foot design; hardened EOC structure was designed to withstand 200 mile per hour winds.

County staff provided input into the architect selection and was involved in facility design. GCCC was responsible for the design and construction of the project.

The facility incorporates areas solely for County use, areas solely for College use, and areas available for joint-use under normal circumstances. In the event of a declared emergency, GCCC will make available additional areas of the facility and other facilities at the North Bay Center for use by the County for the duration of the emergency.

GCCC will use the joint-use areas for public safety training and professional development under normal circumstances.