Construction has begun on a new $13.5 million Public Safety Center at Emerson Park Transit Center in East St. Louis.
The two-story, 16,000-square-foot building will have offices for the St. Clair County MetroLink Sheriff’s officers. In addition, it will be home to the backup Metro Transit Operations Control Center as well as St. Clair County CENCOM West 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center.
The new area is thus intended to improve public safety partners’ security and communication coordination. New amenities for passengers will also be included in the structure, such as public restrooms for users and transit system personnel. In 2024, the construction is anticipated to be finished.
The project team and remakes om the Public Safety Center at Emerson Park Transit Center in East St. Louis
FGM Architects, Poettker Construction, Southwestern Illinois Building Trades, BRiC Partnership, Kreher Engineering, and Gonzalez Cos are members of the project team.
The Rebuild Illinois infrastructure grant, approved by the state legislature and signed by Governor JB Pritzker last year, will provide about $10 million to the project. Additionally, according to district chairman Herb Simmons, the St. Clair County Transit Authority will pay the remaining $3.6 million.
“This project demonstrates that in east St. Louis, where new development and jobs have been lacking for a considerable amount of time, and St. Clair County as a whole, public transportation can and will continue to act as a catalyst for change,” said Sen. Christopher Belt of Illinois.
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“I wanted to express my gratitude to Citizens for Modern Transit. Additionally, AARP in St. Louis, SSCTD, and Metro Transit for their work in 2021. They assisted to improve the Emerson Park Transit Center. This is part of its Transit Stop Transformation Program. East St. Louis, St. Clair County, and the entire St. Louis metropolitan area must invest in this project for public safety reasons,” he concluded.
According to Herb Simmons, chair of the SCCTD Board of Trustees and director of the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency, it will improve communications and security cooperation among Metro Transit. The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, Metro Transit Public Safety, the Bureau of Transit Police, and other public safety partners.
