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Kingsport Police Department
200 Shelby Street • Kingsport, TN 37660 ThomasMPatton • 423-229-9433 (Desk) • 423-224-2786 (FAX) |
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| NEWS RELEASE | |||
| SUBJECT: | Kingsport Emergency Communications Board Announces New Communications Center | ||
| DATE: | May 8, 2014 | ||
| GENERAL NARRATIVE |
| On May 1, 2014 the Kingsport Emergency Communications District broke ground for its new state of the art 911 Communications Center to be located on Unicoi Street in Downtown Kingsport. The Board has been planning this new center for a number of years, saving money and being very conservative with those funds entrusted to them through the 911 surcharge. The Kingsport Emergency Communications District Board is very proud to be able to complete this new center without ever increasing the surcharge for the City of Kingsport. The new structure will be built without any new funds having to be generated.
The new Communications Facility will be approximately 7,500 square feet and will increase the communications area to three times its present size. Kingsport Central Dispatch has simply outgrown the current space which was designed and built in 1989 within the confines of the Justice Center. The City has grown significantly to a population of over 50,000 while the Police Department has almost doubled in manpower, and the Fire Department has opened four new stations. It is the right time to grow the facility to meet the increasing demand for emergency services. The Board wants to insure that the dedicated Communications Specialists have the facilities and equipment to meet that demand for service. Beeson, Lusk, and Street (BLS) was chosen as the architectural firm to oversee the construction of the new facility, and Goins Rash Cain, Inc (GRC) was selected as the builder. Completion is slated for early 2015. For additional information, please contact: Lt. Jerry Mowl, 911 Director Kingsport Police Department 423-229-9358 JerryMowl@KingsportTN.gov |
| RELEASING OFFICER | ||
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Thomas M. Patton, Public Information Officer
Kingsport Police Department Professional Standards Unit |
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