ST. LOUIS — Answering the call, a new 911 dispatch center is breaking ground Thursday in St. Louis to save more lives. The groundbreaking will be at the site at 1:30 p.m.
"St. Louisans deserve a fast response when they call 911," Rasmus Jorgensen said.
Jorgensen, the deputy director of communications for Mayor Tishaura Jones, said that's exactly why the city is breaking ground on the Public Safety Answering Point Building, which will act as a 911 dispatch center.
For the first time ever, it'll house police, fire and EMS dispatchers all under one roof.
The $45 million investment will be at 2741 Thomas St. near the St. Louis Fire Department headquarters and the city's National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Jorgensen said they're offering dispatchers an incentive, about $10,000 more in salary.
"That's going to allow us to bring in more dispatchers and allow us to cross-train and really just give that fast response when people have an emergency," Jorgensen said.
The city has had an array of problems with 911 calls from long waits to no one answering at all. Currently, the city has 116 dispatchers on staff.
St. Louis police said they aim to answer all 911 calls within 10 seconds, but it may take longer when the center is busy. According to their recent data from this summer, in April 2024, 84% of 911 calls were answered within 10 seconds, which is an improvement from July 2023 when the number was 57%. Jorgensen said the cities ultimate goal is to answer 90% of calls within 10 seconds.
The construction of the new dispatch center will take almost two years, with completion in 2026. Funding will come from various places. The mayor's office said they have received $28.2 million dollars so far-- $18.2 million has come from the city through American Rescue Plan Act fund and Economic Development Sales Tax money. $10 million will come from general revenue, which the city also calls budget stabilization funds. $16.8 million is still needed and that funding will come through ARPA re-appropriation or general obligation bonds, according to Conner Kerrigan, the director of communications for Mayor Tishaura Jones. There are also plans for a childcare facility to be built next to the dispatch center, the city says they are working to secure those funds.
"We want it to be done, I'm sure the community feels the same, we want the building to be done so we can do these things better," Jorgensen said.
According to the city's website, the contract for the building was executed January 2020, but the project was placed on hold. Just this month, a building permit was issued.