Construction set to begin on new emergency communications center in Roanoke

New center is expected to open in fall 2019

ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke city leaders will break ground on a new state-of-the-art emergency communications center Monday morning.

Department manager Sonya Roman said they've outgrown their current center in the Roanoke Municipal Building.

The new facility will allow them to expand, stay up-to-date with changing technology and ultimately improve response times.

"It will afford us an opportunity to have more consult areas for the dispatchers, also an opportunity for them to have places to de-stress, a quiet room, a walking trail. We have a very rewarding job but it's also stressful, but with that stress, we will have ways to decompress and allow them to take time after a high stress call," Roman said.

The new facility will be built in the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology on Blue Hills Circle. It will house both the 911 center and the Virginia Utility Protection Service. The groundbreaking is happening there at 10 a.m. Monday.

The new center is expected to open in fall 2019.


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