Members of the FGMA Design Team were on hand for Governor J.B. Pritzker’s announcement of a multi-million dollar grant awarded in support of the new Public Safety Building to be constructed at Emerson Park Transit Center in East St. Louis, Illinois. Secretary of Transportation Omer Osman described the project as a shining example of state-wide efforts to invest in public transit and facilities infrastructure under the $600M ‘Rebuild Illinois’ campaign, and St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern and State Senator Christopher Belt lauded the project as being a significant improvement to the public transit system and the community at large. Accompanied by East St. Louis Mayor Robert Eastern III and members of the Bi-State Development Board, St. Clair County Transit District Board of Trustees Chairman Herb Simmons offered that the project will ‘… better serve riders – not only in St. Clair County but across the entire MetroLink alignment – while helping to bolster communications and security collaboration among Metro Transit, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, Metro Transit Public Safety, the Bureau of Transit Police and other public safety partners.’ The 16,000 sf facility will house St. Clair County MetroLink Sheriff’s Deputies, the Metro Transit Operational Control Center and CENCOM West, the St. Clair County 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center. It will also act as a base of operations for a pilot program to dispatch mental health professionals to incidents and riders on the transit alignment, and feature improved amenities such as a training facility, storm shelter, and accessible restrooms for riders and operators of the transit system.
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