Boone County’s new Emergency Management facility was dedicated this past Sunday – on 9/11 – in a salute to first responders.

The new 27,000 square-foot space will combine the county’s emergency management and joint communications department.

The facility is paid for by a three-eighths cent sales tax approved by voters in April 2013 along with technology upgrades that will bring emergency and 911 communications into the 21st century. Budgeted at $22 million, it is projected to be completed under budget.

“It is a state-of-the-art facility,” said Ashland Police Chief and City Administrator Lyn Woolford. “It will provide them space for emergency management as well as facilitate better joint communications.”

Besides having the facility in a central location at the Boone County Sheriff’s Department campus on the north side of Columbia, a key for Woolford is the potential for multiple channel communication.

The Boone County Emergency Communication facility was dedicated this past Sunday, Sept. 11.

The Boone County Emergency Communication facility was dedicated this past Sunday, Sept. 11.

By Bruce Wallace